Arsenal Dealt Blow As Man City Dismiss Striker Sale

Arsenal Dealt Blow As Man City Dismiss Striker Sale

Edin Dzeko got a vote of confidence from his new manager Pellegrini, who replaced the sacked Roberto Mancini for the new season. The former Malaga manager called Dzeko his most important player amid rumours that the 27-year-old wanted to quit the Etihad Stadium in the summer.

The Bosnian international was preferred over Alvaro Negredo to partner Sergio Aguero in the early parts of the season. However, he has fallen down the pecking order due to the immense form of Aguero and Negredo, who have blasted 28 goals between them.


Pellegrini now prefers Aguero and Negredo as his premier strike partnership with Dzeko relegated to the bench. The forward’s last league start was back in September which ended in a 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa, and he has just scored 3 league goals in 8 appearances so far.

With the World Cup looming next summer in Brazil, Dzeko knows he needs to be playing regularly to be in top form for his national squad. His lack of playing time has resurfaced rumours that he is willing to quit Manchester for regular match time.

Premier League leaders Arsenal have been linked with Dzeko’s services, as Arsene Wenger looks to add more firepower in his frontline. The Frenchman has consistently utilized Olivier Giroud as his lone frontman in nearly all the matches, and there are fears that he might suffer from burn-out later this season.

The Gunners also have Nicklas Bendtner on their books but the Dane is not in Wenger’s plan and will most likely leave the Emirates this January. With only Olivier Giroud as his leading frontman, Wenger is seemingly eyeing a move for Dzeko to sustain the Gunners title challenge till the end of the season.

However, Metro is reporting that Arsenal will have to cross off Dzeko from their list of January transfer targets as Pellegrini has refused to sell Dzeko in the winter window.

Although Dzeko has admitted he has thought about quitting in January, Pellegrini confirmed he will remain at City until the end of the season. He said, “No, that is not the case [that Dzeko could be sold]. I put my trust in him before the season and I have just as much trust in him now.”

Pellegrini went on to say, “It is very important for this club to have a good squad because we have a lot of games to play from now until April and, if we want to win trophies, we need important players. Maybe at the moment he is not playing as much as he would like, but he remains an important part of the squad.”

So it looks like Wenger will be doing his striker shopping at another club.