Written by Nicholas Edwards
It is becoming increasingly more likely by the day that Manchester City are set to complete the signing of highly rated Bosnian Striker Edin Dzeko. It could very well turn out to be the case that the Eastland’s outfit have already snapped up the forward by the time this article is published with reports from Roberto Mancini suggesting that a fee has already been agreed with Wolfsburg.
So, what does this mean for Manchester City and the rest of the Premier League?
In short it means that City fans should be celebrating while the rest of us should be more than a little anxious. A lot has been said over the past few seasons of the Wolfsburg striker’s goal scoring ability and if he can adapt to the Premier League instantly then he could very well prove decisive in the outcome of the title at the end of the season.
Edin Dzeko was born in 1986 and spent his early years playing for clubs in his homeland of Bosnia and then in the Czech Republic. In 2007 he moved to Germany with Wolfsburg for 4 million Euro’s, a club move that saw him gain recognition across Europe scoring 66 goals in 111 appearances. He shot Wolfsburg to the Bundesliga title in 2009 (the first in their history) and become one of the most wanted strikers in football.
Most of Europe’s elite clubs have expressed their interest (Real Madrid and AC Milan being two big admirers) but it now seems that Manchester City have seen off the competition with a £27 million bid and he appears to be worth every penny.
City are having a very good season and are finally seeing the fruition of their astronomical spending and Dzeko could be that last piece of the puzzle they are looking for.
At times this season City have lacked goals. More than once I have watched them 1-0 up against a lower opposition and struggle to see off the game. They seem to lack that final decisive strike that would put games beyond their opposition. In Carlos Tevez they have a proven goal scorer but at times (especially late on in matches) he seems disheartened and bored. Mario Balotelli has done well but his injury record and work rate (even his happiness) don’t inspire confidence in the attack. If you were to draw up a list of what City need to push them to the next level then Dzeko would be right at the top.
The way Mancini sets out his team doesn’t help things either. He usually plays a defensive minded midfield with Barry and De Jong holding things up. Whereas a team like Arsenal uses it’s midfield to attack City use their midfield to hold. In this case the team needs strikers that can do their job and not worry about what/’s going on behind them. Dzeko is the man for that.
This signing will be huge for City. With flops like Robinho fresh in the memory Mancini has made a good decision and has bought (is buying) a player who, at least seems, to genuinely want to play for the men in blue. He doesn’t appear to have the tremendous ego that comes with the talent City buy. Maybe this will turn out to be wrong but he doesn’t seem that type of character.
If Dzeko can hit the ground running then I expect him to have a huge impact. I predict that it will be a similar impact to the one made by Fernando Torres when he joined Liverpool. The Spaniard was exactly what Liverpool needed and he nearly fired them to glory. It was other frailties in the squad that held Liverpool back; frailties that I don’t seem in the current City squad. Could the blue half of Manchester go all the way? I don’t see any reason why not.
Play FootballFanCast.com‘s first LIVE football fantasy – Picklive – HERE