It would seem that our top target this summer is Edin Dzeko and it’s easy to see why. Aged 24, the Wolfsburg striker was the top scorer in the Budesliga last season, was nominated for the Ballon d’Or in 2009 and was second top scorer to Wayne Rooney in the UEFA qualifying section of the World Cup, despite playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At almost 6ft 4″ tall, this is a striker who is a real threat in the air, but also shows great skill when the ball is at his feet. When I say that, I don’t mean it in a ‘Peter Crouch has got a great touch for a big man’ way either. Dzeko has the pace, power and ability to take players on and the composure to finish the chances he creates for himself.
So if he’s so great then why doesn’t every other club in Europe want to buy him? Well that’s the problem. They do. Throw a stick in the general direction of a top club in England, Italy and Spain and you can bet that they’ve been linked with Dzeko.
He would cost at least £30m, which is a fee we could afford if we shipped out Pavlyuchenko and Keane. It’s not like we’re going to need to bring in several players this summer, so we should be prepared to pay big for the right man who could make a difference for us.
Crucially, Dzeko is able to play on his own up front and I think that Harry will be looking to recruit a striker who can perform in that role. Our midfielders are far more suited to a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formation, than a 4-4-2, but strikers that can score enough goals when playing alone in attack, are few and far between.
The Verdict: Signing Dzeko should be our number one priority this summer, but you can’t say that we’ll start as favourites for his signature. I’d be mightily surprised if we got our man, but then I’m still getting over the shock of finding out on Teletext that Klinsmann had signed for us. We’ve been known to pull off a shock deal.
I agree 100%, he is a world class striker. If we spend big and get this guy, we could very well be contenders for a long time. We have everything else. Our midfield is very strong, our defense is getting stronger with Dawson improving with every game, Bale is very promising. Considering we have champions league and he WILL get a lot of play time, I don’t see why we wouldnt have a good chance of signing him.
Come on Harry tell Mr Levy this is the striker you want,he is just what we need an out and out goal scorer,COYS
AGREE 100%
I would buy a shirt from day 1. This is the special player Harry was referring to. He is one of the best strikers in Europe, and is still young. A perfect mix of Berbatov and Pavlyuchenko, what a signing he’d be.
our 3 signings should be arda turan , micah richards and edin dzeko .
as harry has stated bale will eventually become a leftback so turan on the left will be perfect bearing in mind he wont cost that much because there intrested in signing giovani dos santos so 4-6 milion plus dos santos for a world class player sounds good to me
city will be willing to sell richards as hard he is deemed surplus to requirements at eastlands and ive heard anything around 6 million will be enough for him
so if the reported 40 million weve got to spend is correct we have around 30 milion to spend with a large percentage of that going towards wolfsburg for dzeko and the remainder will probaly be for a sub keeper if we dont schiemichel westwood whoever it maybe and possibly gudjohnsen
i reckon keane dos santos jenas hutton tarrabt and possibly ohara will be on there way out of spurs if this true our squad should look like this
gomes, ( one of the above keepers) , cudicini
corluka richards kaboul king dawson bassong woody assou ekkoto
bale
turan kranjcar modric huddlestone sandro bentley lennon
gudjohnsen
pavlyuchenko dzeko defoe crouch
plus youth players like danny rose livermore townsend walker naughton dervitte bostock parrett alnwick
which will probaly used for carling cup games as we are a champions league team hopefully but none the less looks a very good squad to me and dare i say it title chalenging although top 4 again and a good run in all cups will do me just fine
erm I think you missed out a certain Mr Palacios Jack??
oh yeah ha i was looking at that midfield thinking theres one more but yeah placoios of course
I would like to add Bellamy and Lescott to that list with woody leaving as we cannot carry two injured players and Bellamy offers pace and threat (on and off the pitch) we will need a very strong squad next season to try and qualify for the stages and get 4th or better in the league.
I would be very happy to see the signings of James, Richards, Turan and Dzeko. I think they are all very feasible. That would give us tremendous quality and depth in the squad and cover in every position. I don’t see Woody being available honestly and I don’t think Harry will keep 5 strikers. So either Gudjohnsson will not be signed or Pavlychenko will be sold to accommodate Dzeko. Departures should be Keane, Jenas, Hutton, O’Hara, Dos Santos. That makes a squad of 22 senior players plus 5 home grown youngsters from the likes of Rose, Walker, Obika, Bostock, Parrett, Townsend, Kane etc for blooding in the Carling Cup
Gomes, James
Kaboul, Corluka, Richards, King, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Bale
Turan, Krancjar, Modric, Huddlestone, Sandro, Palacios, Lennon, Bentley
Dzeko, Gudjohnsson/Pavlyuchenko, Crouch, Defoe
That would be the best quality squad ever asembled at WHL and would undoubtedly make us capable of securing a top 4 berth again and of making major cup runs, including the knockout stages of the Champions League.
COYS!
I agree Matt that is a scary looking squad but as we know nothing is certain during the transfer merry go round. The easy bit (if you can call it that) has been done now we need to prove we belong there not easy but Harry and his team can do it. Also it must be noted that we may also need a replacement for Woody as maybe he will have to go by mutual consent, of course I would love for him to return fit and well give us couple good seasons as he is still a player I rate when fit but doesn’t look like he’s going to shake this groin problem. And definitely a goalkeeper but not David James can’t really see the point in that how old is he now? One thing for sure we need to act before the world cup starts otherwise forty million won’t be enough to buy anything we require unless of course sheikh ‘loadsa cash brother of citeh sheikh’ jumps on board. Thanks but no thanks we stick with Daniel. Lillywhitetilidie.
The Hunter is one of our new strikers
if robbie and pav go there will be another
Raul could be it
Personally i would love 5 new players and ship out 5 player not effecting the 1st team too much but getting a better squad new players with stars:
Gomes, James, Cudichini
Kaboul, Corluka, *Richards/Hentinga(Everton)*, King, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Bale
*Turan*, Krancjar, Modric, Huddlestone, Sandro, Palacios, Lennon, *Bellamy*, *J Cole*
*Dzeko*, Gudjohnsson, Crouch, Defoe
Out:
Keane, Pav, Jenas, Hutton, Bentley
New players cost: 45-55mil
Players out: 35-45mil
If only life was that easy….lol
signing dzeko will go down alongside the signings of ardilles gascoinge and klinsmann the bloke is world class
What about the young defender from Palermo, Simon Kjær? Surely he’s better than Richards??!
Agree with Dzeko, we need to get him, and asap.
Not sure about James, a younger player is a better bet, but at least James has experience at the highest level i guess, maybe a one season signing?
WOULD BE A DREAM SIGNING AND IDEAL FOR US ALTHOUGH IT IS GONNA BE DIFFICULT. NO WAY SHOULD WE SELL PAV, HE IS CLASS AND WILL ALWAYS SCORE GOALS. GET DZECKO, RICHARDS AND A LEFT BACK AND IF COLE FANCIES IT HAVE HIM 2. GET RID OF KEANE, JENAS, HUTTON AND ONLY BENTLEY IF THE OFFERS BIG ENOUGH (NOT DECIDED ON WETHER TO GET RID OF BENTLEY, DID A DECENT JOB AT TIMES FOR US LAST SEASON) IF WE GET COLE THEN CASH IN! JUST HOPE THE YID ARMY GIVE SANDRO TIME TO SETTLE, DONT EXPECT THE MIRACALS LIKE WHAT ALOT OF PEOPLE EXPECT OF PEOPLE LIKE DOS SANTOS! PATIENCE WITH THESE SORT OF YOUNG PLAYERS IS KEY.
buy buy buy buythis player he looks shit hot would nt cost 40 mil too so would have sum cash to but sum one else or maybe two more players
You are all living in a dreamworld. Having the money for the transfer fee is one thing…Levy’s wage structure is another. None of the really top players will come to us until Levy has the revenue stream to pay top wages.
Until then it’s going to be scraps and maybe an odd free where what would have been the transfer fee could be used to pay directly to the player.