Dzeko tipped for Premier League return, but who will sign him?

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Edin Dzeko has fallen out of favour at Roma after a disagreement with head coach Paulo Fonseca, with the club looking to move him on this January.

This has put several Premier League clubs on alert, many of whom are actively looking to to recruit a centre-forward before the transfer window closes on 1 February this coming Monday.

The Bosnian has previously played in England, having featured for Man City between 2011 and 2016.

In 130 appearances in the Premier League, he scored 50 goals.

This week, Dzeko has been linked with a move to Inter which would see Alexis Sanchez move in the opposite direction, but in the last few days the Giallorossi forward has been tipped for a return to the Premier League.

Dzeko’s suitors

West Ham

It is fairly common knowledge that West Ham are desperate to sign a striker in the January transfer window, having already offloaded Sebastien Haller to Ajax, leaving them with just Michail Antonio in the centre-forward position.

Even Antonio isn’t a classic number nine, though, and the Hammers have naturally been linked with a number of strikers this month, including Hwang Hee-Chan, Youssef En-Nesyri, and even Danny Ings.

They are set to sign Jesse Lingard on loan from Man Utd, but that still doesn’t solve their issues of having no focal point up top when Antonio is missing.

Dzeko would not only fulfil this role, but it could be an enticing prospect for him as he would likely go straight into the West Ham team as their starting number nine.

Everton

Dominic Calvert-Lewin started the season for Everton in fantastic form, and for a while was actually the leading goalscorer in Europe’s top five leagues.

However, he has just one goal since the end of November, with the feeling being that he perhaps needs some competition up top to ignite his campaign again.

Like West Ham, Everton only really have one senior centre-forward in the squad, and although the likes of Richarlison can deputise in that role, that takes the Brazilian away from his favoured position down the left-hand side.

This will present an interesting scenario for Dzeko as he will have the opportunity to work with Carlo Ancelotti, a man who was able to convince James Rodriguez to sign from Real Madrid.

Man City

Though Pep Guardiola has continually said that Man City will not be conducting any business by the end of the transfer window, there is no doubt that they could be doing with another centre-forward.

Too many times this season he has been forced to deploy Ferran Torres, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, or even Kevin De Bruyne to lead the attack, rather than having a recognised striker.

Sergio Aguero is never fit whether it be due to injury or coronavirus isolation, and Gabriel Jesus has had his share of injury problems too.

Yes, Man City are in magnificent form at the moment, having won their last seven games to claim top spot in the Premier League, but they could bring Dzeko in a potential ‘Plan B’.

Would Dzeko want to go back to his former club, though?