Mancini interested in signing up Bosnian Dzeko

According to reports out of Germany, City would pay a record fee of up to €40 million (Dh193m) for the Bosnian striker.

Edin Dzeko, the Wolfsburg striker, has caught the eye of Manchester City.
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Manchester City would set a record for the highest transfer fee paid to a Bundesliga player if the Premier League club go through with a deal with Wolfsburg for Edin Dzeko.

According to reports out of Germany, City would pay a fee of up to €40 million (Dh193m) for the Bosnian striker, who has made no secret of his desire to leave the struggling German side for a bigger club.

His stated preference was to join AC Milan, but the Italians have just signed Antonio Cassano from Sampdoria, which reduces the chances of Milan pursuing Dzeko.

Roberto Mancini, the City coach, has confirmed that he is a fan of the 24-year-old forward.

The Wolfsburger Allgemeine newspaper 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."

Dieter Hoeness, Wolfsburg's managing director, said last week that his club are preparing to make major changes to the squad after a disappointing first half.

Selling a player of Dzeko's talent may not be Hoeness's preference.

But the player's malaise on the pitch this season for the 2009 Bundesliga champions, coached this season by Steve McClaren, may be one of the reasons the team have not played well this season where they currently are a lowly 13th in the table, a whopping 30 points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.

According to the Wolfsburger Allgemeine, City would pay an initial fee of €30m, with €5m to follow in the case of City qualifying for the Champions League. Another €5m would go to signing-on and agent fees. The €40m total would easily break the Bundesliga's transfer record.

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

The sale of Diego from Werder Bremen to Juventus last year is the most expensive Bundesliga foreign sale to date, at €27m. He returned to the Bundesliga last summer, joining Wolfsburg for a cut-price fee of €15.5m.

Wolfsburg are set to make a huge profit on a player they signed for just €4m from the Czech club FK Teplice in 2007. He won the Bundesliga golden boot award last year. He has scored 10 times this season, taking his tally to 66 in 111 games for the Wolves.