With the need for another striker to come in to the Emirates this January, Arsene Wenger will be pleased to hear of Edin Dzeko’s situation at Manchester City, with the Bosnian forward warning Manuel Pellegrini to give him more game time or risk losing him in the near future.
Dzeko signed for City in a £30 million move from Wolfsburg in 2011 and established himself as a regular at the club under Roberto Mancini, especially last season.
However, since Mancini’s departure in the summer, the 27-year-old has found himself spending more time on the bench than on the pitch under Pellegrini, and he’s not happy about it.
Dzeko has warned that he must get more playing time in the upcoming weeks or he will think about moving elsewhere to attain it with the World Cup approaching.
Quoted in the Metro, he said:
‘It [the situation at City] could be better.
‘There are a lot of players and everyone has to get a chance to play, so maybe that’s why I’ve not played. Who knows?
‘But I need to play more than I am. I’ve only started four games in the Premier League. I think I could definitely have played more than I have done.
‘I’m still here and I still have 18 months left on my contract. But you never know what can happen in the future.’
We are short of options upfront, with Olivier Giroud being our only recognised forward at the club. Yes we have Nicklas Bendtner and young Yaya Sanogo, but neither can be relied on to find the back of the net consistently should Giroud pick up a nasty injury.
A striker must come in this January to help Giroud with the goals and Dzeko would be an ideal acquisition for us.
Before signing for City, Dzeko netted and impressive 85 goals in 132 appearances for Wolfsburg, attracting several top European clubs at the time. And although the Bosnian international hasn’t managed to replicate this goal-scoring form at the Etihad, he’s still a deadly forward when on form and given a run of games.
Dzeko has good technical ability, is a goal poacher and is also very good in the air and can hold up play as well. In addition, he also has Premier League experience and would probably be a cheaper option than other names out there this winter.
We probably won’t sign him, but Wenger should certainly keep tabs on his situation ahead of the January transfer window – he would be, in my opinion, a very astute signing should we go for him.
