Dzeko had Blues in battle with top strikers for spot
AS Roma forward Edin Dzeko has revealed competition for places at City meant he wasn’t always happy during his spell with the club.
The Bosnian joined the Blues from Wolfsburg in 2011 for £27m, the club’s second highest transfer fee at the time. He scored just two goals in his first 15 appearances during a difficult few months in England.
However, he soon found his goal scoring touch - netting at least 14 Premier League goals in each of his next three seasons at the Etihad Stadium.
Dzeko was forced to battle Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli for a starting berth and has now revealed that constantly competing for a place in the side made him unhappy at times.
“There was always four top quality strikers there,” he told Roma’s official website. “So we didn’t play all the time.
“That’s why I wasn’t always happy, you know, but with so much quality in the team that’s the battle you always have to face.
“We had Sergio [Aguero], [Carlos] Tevez, at different times there was [Steven] Jovetic, [Mario] Balotelli, [Alvaro] Negredo, [Emmanuel] Adebayor, [Wilfried] Bony... so many strikers were at the club in that period.
“But I always had a good understanding with Sergio when he played, I thought we complemented each other quite well.
“We played well together, the tall and small partnership suited us well.”
Dzeko departed for the Serie A after spending five years with City. The forward scored some crucial goals for the club and feels supporters now see him in a different light.
He believes leaving the club made City fans realise what they had in the first place.
The 33-year-old added: “Maybe. I don’t know, maybe they appreciate me even more now than when I was there. “When you are there, people can get used to you. “And then when you leave... it can be the same as with a girl; only when they leave do you realise what you actually had in the first place! But I think they appreciate me even more now than they did when I was there - even if I must say that the City fans were always there for me. “But I still hear the City fans occasionally singing my name, you know, and some write to me calling me a legend. It’s nice.”
Edin Dzeko