Dzeko primed for €40m City switch

EDIN DZEKO is set to break the Bundesliga transfer record by joining Manchester City from Wolfsburg for a fee in the region of €40 million, according to reports in Germany.

The Bosnian striker has made no secret of his desire to leave the German side for a bigger club and, while his dream has always been to join AC Milan, the fact the Italians have just signed Antonio Cassano from Sampdoria reduces the chances of that move coming off.

However, City have the ambition to become one of Europe’s top clubs and they also have the financial backing, and a transfer of Dzeko next month is looking more likely. Coach Roberto Mancini has also confirmed that he is a fan of the 24-year-old.

The Wolfsburger Allgemeine newspaper yesterday quoted Mancini saying: “We have the chance to win the league this year and the decisive factor could be Edin Dzeko. This player can decide titles and that is why we want him.”

Wolfsburg’s managing director Dieter Hoeness declared last week that his club is preparing to make major changes to the playing personnel after a disappointing first half of the season.

Yesterday, however, Hoeness declined to confirm negotiations are ongoing and stressed the 24-year-old remains under contract to Wolfsburg.

“There is a transfer window approaching, players will be able to change clubs during the course of January,” Hoeness said. “As usual, there will be a lot of rumours and speculation every single day.

“VfL Wolfsburg is not prepared to add anything to this, nor will we be out to value any rumour.

“Edin Dzeko is a VfL Wolfsburg player, Edin Dzeko has a contract with our club.”

However while selling a player of Dzeko’s talent may not be Hoeness preference, the player’s malaise at the 2009 Bundesliga champions, who currently seem unlikely to provide him with the chance to play in the Champions League next season, may be one of the reasons the team has not been functioning since Steve McClaren took over as coach in the summer.

A fee of €40m, which the Wolfsburger Allgemeine reports would be made up of an initial fee of €30m with €5m to follow in the event of City qualifying for the Champions League, while €5m would go on signing-on and agent fees, would break the Bundesliga’s transfer record.

Bayern Munich currently hold that with their €30m outlay on Mario Gomez from Stuttgart in 2009.