Three weeks after confirming that Robert Lewandowski will not be signing a new contract for the club, Borussia Dortmund have similarly confirm their interest in Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko.
It was general manager Michael Zorc that confirmed this interest in the Bosnian. Speaking to Sport-Bild weekly, he said:
[quote]There should be little doubt about Edin Dzeko being a top-class striker. He is a great forward and a player one should be keen on.[/quote]
He stopped short of saying a deal was done though and claimed that ‘economics’ could prevent a move from Dortmund.
[quote]However there is also still somewhat of an economic aspect. It would be down to pure maths because Edin Dzeko is under contract at Manchester City beyond the end of the season.[/quote]
Dzeko, 27, joined city in 2011 for an impressive £27million and has faced huge competition for holding down a starting spot ever since. With Tevez, Aguero and until recently Balotelli also contending for a place, Dzeko has not played as much as he would have like to.
This season he has made more substitute appearances, 13, that he has started games, 12, however he has still managed 12 Premier league goals. Early on in the season he had gained a reputation for coming on late in the game to score the decisive goal, this feat happening in consecutive weeks.
Although he received a lot of praise for making such a big impact when called upon, when questioned about his new title of “super-sub” he told the Telegraph, “You can call me whatever you want but I will never accept that I am a super-sub.”
[quote]I was never a sub and I will never be one. At the moment maybe, it’s like that. It’s not great for me. But with my goals and with the goals I have scored so far this year I think I deserve to play more.
Edin Dzeko[/quote]
In some respects he has got his wish since then, with most of his starts coming at this end of the season. Yet despite the departure of Mario Balotelli to AC Milan, it is still difficult for Mancini to guarantee his place in the starting line up, with Tevez and Aguero also so important to Manchester City. Mancini has conceded that because of his inability to hold down a starting role, the club would be open to selling him in the summer.
As can be seen from above, after a slow start his level of performance has been fairly consistent since arriving from Wolfsburg. You could perhaps put his 2 goals from the first months of his career in 15 (7) appearances down to him finding his legs in the Premier League, and he has improved since then. He has however never shown the prolific form that he managed in Germany, and so has not lived up that reputation. He is of course a fantastic option to have as third choice (as he has been for most of his time in Manchester) but of course as he has himself said, he is not happy with that role.
[quote]Manchester City’s loss against Southampton was the first time City had lost a game in the Premier League in which Edin Dzeko had scored.
@EPLIndex[/quote]
More than putting the future of Dzeko into doubt, the comments made by the general manager of Dortmund puts fuel on the rumours that they are likely to cash in on Robert Lewandowski before his contract runs out. The Polish international is officially with the German club until the end of next season and Dortmund have confirmed that he will not be signing a new contract.
[quote]Robert Lewandowski is not going to sign a new contract. We will have to see if he is going to be on the move in the summer.
Michael Zorc, Dortmund Director[/quote]
This leaves the club with two options: keep hold of him until his contract expires at the end of the 2013/14 season, or profit from selling him on this summer, similar to what Arsenal did with Robin Van Persie. If they were to take the latter course of action, then they would be in the market for a new striker this summer, and so their interest in Dzeko will add to the speculation in both cases.
Lewandowski has already been linked to a number of teams, Manchester United being one of them. With the chances of Dzeko departing from Manchester City seemingly growing larger, there is a simultaneous growth in the likelihood of Lewandowski leaving Dortmund, with the potential for the direction of that move being the Premier League.
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