Premier League: Edin Dzeko linked with possible transfer to Manchester City
Bundesliga star footballer Edin Dzeko is set to break the German league’s transfer record by joining Manchester City for a fee in the region of €40m (around £34m), according to the German media.
Bayern Munich currently hold the Bundesliga transfer record with their €30m signing of Mario Gomez from Stuttgart in 2009. The record for the highest fee received by a Bundesliga club from a team outside of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904 is held by Werder
Bremen for the €27m they were paid by Juventus for Diego, also in 2009.
Dzeko, who was the top-scorer in the Bundesliga last season, has been keen on leaving VfL Wolfsburg for a bigger club for a long time, and has previously stated that he would like to play for AC Milan. The 24-year-old Bosnian was
linked with several clubs in the summer but none of them could meet the £30m buy-out clause in his contract with Wolfsburg, which lasts till 2013.
In the January transfer window next month, however, Manchester City are looking to spruce up their side in a bid to win the Premier League title, and Dzeko is a said to be a major target.
"We have the chance to win the league this year and the decisive factor could be Edin Dzeko,” City manager Roberto Mancini told the
Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, a Wolfsburg daily. “This player can decide titles and that is why we want him.”
Dzeko made his debut for FK Zeljeznicar in 2003 as a midfielder, and was bought by FK Teplice in 2005 for just €400,000. He was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loan_(association_football)ed to
Usti nad Labem for a while that year, playing 15 games for the club and scoring six goals. He moved back to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FK_Teplice later in the year, playing there until 2007. He was the top-scorer
of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambrinus_liga in the 2006–07 season, scoring 13 goals in 30 games. In 2007, he was signed by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/VfL-Wolfsburg-c40881 for €4m.
Dzeko, who scored his first Champions League goal against Manchester United last year, has scored 66 times in 111 games for Wolfsburg and is regarded as one of the best strikers in Europe. On August 28, 2010, Dzeko became the top
league scorer in the history of the club with 59 goals in 96 appearances. A member of the Bosnian national football team, he was named Bosnian Footballer of the Year in 2009 and 2010.
After a disappointing season this year, Wolfsburg may be willing to make changes in their squad during the January transfer window, but the club’s general manager Dieter Hoeness has declined to comment. If Dzeko’s transfer does
go ahead, it will be a lucrative deal for Wolfsburg. The Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung reports that in addition to the initial transfer fee, City would have to pay a further €5m if they qualify for the Champions League this season, and another extra
€5m for a signing-on fee and to pay agents.
It should be noted however that City have yet to go on record to confirm that they will be looking to buy Dzeko in January. Assistant manager Brian Kidd has even played down the rumours, saying, “The window hasn't opened. It's
the usual story isn't it, 'No buy, no sell, no tales to tell.' At the moment it's just speculation with a lot of players being thrown in the pot. There is only one man who decides that, and that's the boss [Roberto http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mancini-c23323]. I don't think it's right to speak
about other players at other clubs.”
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