Edin Dzeko

The 48-year-old claims the Bosnian would score between 20-30 goals in the Italian top flight and reiterated that Edinson Cavani has been a long-term target at the Etihad Stadium

Former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes Edin Dzeko would be a prolific striker in Serie A.

City are willing to use 27-year-old, who Mancini signed from Wolfsburg in January 2011, as part of their bid to sign Napoli forward Edinson Cavani this summer.

Mancini started Dzeko just 16 times in the Premier League last season, fewer than both Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero, but the former City boss claims the Bosnian would be one of the leading striker’s in the Italian top flight.

“Dzeko is a great striker and in Italy he could score 20-30 goals for the season,” Mancini told reporters.

Earlier this month, Chelsea entered the race with City and Real Madrid for Cavani after offering Fernando Torres to Napoli in a €63 million player-plus-cash bid for the 26-year-old.

City’s own move for Cavani has stalled, while Mancini reiterated the Uruguay international was one of his targets during his reign at the Etihad Stadium.

“When I was at Manchester I talked often with the board about Edinson Cavani because he could interest us a lot,” he said.

“Right now I don’t know if they have still interest in him with the new technical project.”

With the European season over, Goal looks at the business set to be done by BVB as they look to rebuild ahead of next season

ANALYSIS
By Enis Koylu

It’s fair to say that it’s been a season of highs and lows for Borussia Dortmund. The Ruhr giants announced themselves on the biggest stage, reaching the Champions League final against all odds but seeing their domestic dominance slip.

Regardless, Signal Iduna Park has become a far more desirable destination than it was a year ago and they have the chance to build, meaning that it promises to be a busy summer for Jurgen Klopp along with sporting director Michael Zorc and CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.

Goal looks at the potential comings and goings this summer to see how Dortmund should build for the future.

With a couple of key names set to leave the club this summer, BVB have already been busy identifying potential targets.

The first high-profile name on their list is Ajax starlet Christian Eriksen, who has just one more year remaining on his contract at the Amsterdam ArenA. The Danish youngster has a host of admirers from around Europe, most notably from the Premier League, but Dortmund are moving decisively, having sounded out a move with his club. They are yet to make a formal offer but the 21-year-old has made it clear that he would be open to a switch to Germany and his age means he would fit in well with many BVB stars.

Next up on their list is Kevin De Bruyne of Chelsea. The Belgian winger is behind a host of players in the Stamford Bridge pecking order and impressed during a loan spell at Werder Bremen in 2012-13 and he could well elect to leave England for a permanent move to Germany. Zorc has confirmed that his preferred destination is Dortmund and his signature would provide much-needed cover and competition for the likes of Marco Reus and Jakub Blaszczykowski.

Elsewhere, they will be looking for a new striker to lead the line in the absence of Robert Lewandowski, who is looking ever-more-likely to join Bayern Munich. Edin Dzeko, who has been unable to cement a place in the Manchester City first team, is a confirmed target and he possesses a vast array of Bundesliga experience after a successful spell with Wolfsburg prior to his move to the Premier League.

Another striker to have confirmed interest from the Westfalenstadion is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Saint-Etienne, while Aston Villa star Christian Benteke‘s agent has claimed that his client has caught BVB’s eye.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos has already moved from Werder Bremen to replace Felipe Santana and cover for Lukasz Piszczek but Dortmund may well seek to add another defender to their ranks before the summer is out, or put their faith in a youngster such as Koray Gunter or Lasse Sobiech, who spent last season at Greuther Furth.

That the summer of 2013 will be spent rebuilding is largely due to the number of players who are set to leave Borussia Dortmund.

Robert Lewandowski, their star striker, has just one year left on his contract at the club and is looking to force through a move to Bayern Munich, with his agent announcing that he is only interested in a controversial transfer to the Allianz Arena.

And while the Polish striker’s exit has long been in the works, Dortmund were dealt a cruel blow with the news that Mario Gotze would move to Bayern, who activated the 21-year-old’s release clause back at the beginning of April, with the Germany international keen to team up with future Roten coach Pep Guardiola, who will succeed Jupp Heynckes in June.

The final player who will be elsewhere next season is Felipe Santana, who has already made a move across the Ruhr to join local rivals Schalke in the hope of breaking into the Brazil team with more playing time.

Elsewhere, though, there will be no high-profile exits. The likes of Marco Reus and Mats Hummels have been linked with transfers away, but remain under contract for the long term and committed to the cause.

And so they may look to move on some dead weight. Julian Koch has joined Mainz permanently, Patrick Owomoyela is out of contract and Oliver Kirch has failed to make any sort of impact since his arrival from Kaiserslautern last summer.

Dortmund may be losing two of their best players but, arguably, the most important person in their recent success has been Jurgen Klopp. The former Mainz boss is under contract until 2016 and although he has turned the heads of a host of clubs outside Germany, he is committed to the cause.

The 45-year-old has vowed that he will not let his club fall off the map after what promises to be a summer of upheaval and there is a sense that anything is possible with him at the helm.

Regardless of Gotze’s move to Bayern Munich and Lewandowski’s projected exit, BVB remain a great side, comfortably the second best in Germany.

Their first task will be cutting the gap with the Bavarians. The 25-point lead Heynckes’ side had at the end of the season was simply unacceptable but, to do so, they will need to invest heavily in their squad.

Klopp, Zorc and Watzke are all shrewd and will undoubtedly do good business but, if the team are to challenge on all three fronts next season, the squad must be bolstered. Failure to do so, and Bayern will move away further.

Follow Enis Koylu on

The Uruguayan’s representatives have agreed a €180,000-a-week deal in principle with the Premier League side, but Napoli are holding out for a fee close to his €63m release clause

By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Manchester City’s bid to sign Edinson Cavani from Napoli has stalled after failing to agree a €59 million-player-plus-cash deal involving Edin Dzeko, Goal understands.

City, who are understood to have agreed a €180,000-a-week deal in principle with the Uruguayan, are willing to pay €30m cash plus offer €29m-rated striker Dzeko in part-exchange for the prolific 26-year-old.

However, while new Napoli boss Rafa Benitez is believed to have given his blessing to the pursuit of Dzeko, the Partenopei are keen to hold out for a fee close to Cavani’s €63m release clause.

And in an increasingly complicated deal, the Italian outfit – who have already committed considerable finances to hiring former Chelsea manager Benitez and his vast backroom team – are also reluctant to match Dzeko’s €129,000-a-week City wages.

The Bosnian striker, meanwhile, wants to leave City after falling behind Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez in the club’s pecking order, with Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Chelsea leading the chase for his signature.

City want to use the 27-year-old to help fund the purchase of long-term target Cavani, who is one of the most highly sought-after centre-forwards in the world following three prolific seasons at Napoli, which have yielded an astonishing 102 goals in 124 matches for the club in all competitions.

The Uruguayan has made little secret of his desire to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona, prompting fears among the City hierarchy that he could be using their interest to force the hands of the two Spanish big-hitters.

Cavani has been coy about whether he will be at Napoli next season. Speaking to Corriere del Mezzogiorno last weekend, he said: “Is Napoli my future? Napoli is my today. No one can predict the future. I can only say that today I am happy.

“As for Real Madrid… kids dream, it is normal. Everyone does it. I found Napoli and I am proud. Then again it’s nice to dream, even when you are grown up.”

Napoli want a bidding war for their prize asset as they hold out for a fee close to Cavani’s €63m release clause.

“Cavani has a contract for another four years and a buy-out clause worth €63m,” De Laurentiis wrote on Twitter in a question and answer session earlier this week.

“We have received many offers for Cavani, but all of them were much lower than the buy-out clause.”

Follow Wayne Veysey on

The Premier League runners-up are preparing for a post-season restructuring ahead of Manuel Pellegrini’s arrival, which sources say will “stun English football”

SPECIAL REPORT
By Greg Stobart

That Roberto Mancini’s name barely made mention as the Manchester City board met at the club’s Knightsbridge hotel on the evening before the FA Cup final a fortnight ago said it all. With, or as we now know without, the Italian, those in charge – real charge – at the Etihad Stadium, have plans that extend far beyond the sacking of their beleaguered former boss over the coming months.

At the heart of those plans: a €140 million summer shopping spree that will “stun English football”, say sources.

In fact, it is being described as “the biggest summer in City’s recent history” by those in and around the club. From Abu Dhabi to Ardwick, City are set to enter a period of transformation that will change the footballing landscape far beyond Manchester forever.

Edinson Cavani, Fernandinho, Isco, Thiago Alcantara, Jesus Navas and Diego Novaretti make up City’s stellar six-man shortlist drawn up in a series of meetings between director of football Txiki Begiristain, chief executive Ferran Soriano, football administration officer Brian Marwood and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who reports directly to Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi owners who have bankrolled the club into the upper echelons of the English game.

Yet the club’s disastrous title defence this term, which saw them finish 11 points behind champions Manchester United and Roberto Mancini sacked within two days of their humbling FA Cup final defeat to Wigan, has accelerated work behind the scenes as the club prepare to face Chelsea in a St. Louis friendly in the early hours of Friday morning.

Manuel Pellegrini confirmed his departure from Malaga on Wednesday ahead of his expected move to City to replace Mancini, who sent flowers to City staff at the club’s Carrington training ground this week and ensured his personal belongings and bicycle were removed from the complex.

Meanwhile, amid the farewells taking place in Manchester, the €63m-rated Cavani remains the club’s number one target this summer. The striker has already been the subject of talks between City and the Uruguayan’s club Napoli, which were confirmed by the Serie A side’s owner Aurelio De Laurentiis on Tuesday.

The Italian club are keen to include Edin Dzeko – who City value at €26m – in any deal for Cavani but Goal understands that the Bosnian is likely to wait for confirmation of Robert Lewandowski’s expected switch to Bayern Munich before committing to any move, as he is keen on a return to the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund.

Malaga attacker Isco has also told City that he will make the move to Manchester provided the almost inevitable completion of Pellegrini‘s switch to the Premier League outfit goes through in the coming weeks, with the 21-year-old Spaniard a long-term target despite his recent new contract almost doubling his previous release clause of €20m to €35m. Begiristain, although a fan of Isco, is unwilling to pay more than €26m for his services and reports surfaced late on Wednesday suggesting that Real Madrid were in advanced talks to sign the playmaker.

Yet such is the depth of City’s planning that every targeted position has two or three names to cover any potential shortfall in the market this summer.

Isco‘s compatriot Jesus Navas has also hinted that he would be keen to link up with Pellegrini this summer and is seen as a suitable, if not like-for-like, replacement for Samir Nasri, who is being pursued informally by Paris Saint-Germain. However, much hinges on who replaces the outgoing Carlo Ancelotti in the French capital before the Qatar Investment Authority sanction a move for the former Arsenal star, whose publicly-strained relationship with Roberto Mancini came to the fore this term.

City, meanwhile, remain in deadlock with Shakhtar Donetsk, who want €48m for Brazilian star Fernandinho, who took to Twitter on Monday expressing his desire to join the Premier League runners-up. As with both Isco and Jesus Navas, club officials are reluctant to spend much over the €23m mark but expect that the box-to-box midfielder’s attempts to manoeuvre an exit from the Ukrainian outfit could see them soften their stance over his departure.

A move for Thiago Alcantara is also being considered by the club, after Marwood met with the Barcelona starlet’s father, Mazinho, in secret talks in Catalunya in 2012. They typically face stiff competition from neighbours United in the pursuit of his signature, however, with a fee of between €17.5m and €23m thought to be enough to convince the Spanish champions to sell their out-of-favour midfielder.

With concerns over Financial Fair Play regulations at the forefront of the minds of City’s top brass, talks have also addressed recouping up to €47m this summer through player sales and salary savings to fund their transformative summer splurge, coupled with the €23m paid by AC Milan for Mario Balotelli in January still sitting in the club’s coffers.

The most high-profile and lucrative departure alongside Dzeko and Nasri is Carlos Tevez, whose annual salary comes to approximately £6.5m. The controversial Argentine is a target for Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Monaco. Kolo Toure, who is nearing ever closer to a move to Liverpool, pockets £115,000-a-week at City and will likely be replaced by Mexican-based Argentine Diego Novaretti, while the club’s contributions to the £90,000-a-week wages of Roque Santa Cruz and Wayne Bridge are also set to come to an end this summer.

The futures of Scott Sinclair, who is being monitored by Everton, Newcastle and Southampton, and Javi Garcia, who was the first player sold by Pellegrini on his arrival at Real Madrid in 2009, are also unclear. Both have been made available by City after failing to impress this term.

While Begiristain is at the forefront of the club’s player recruitment drive and salary restructure, chief executive Soriano has been working closely with the club’s swelling commercial department, which will hire a further 20 staff in an office in Mayfair over the next few months.

The announcement of City’s partnership with the New York Yankees and subsequent move into MLS with New York City FC is, according to sources close to the club, simply the start of the club’s efforts to spread their brand across Asia, the USA and South America as the club follow the lead of United in capitalising on the Premier League’s vast global appeal.

Meanwhile, the club are continuing work on their vast Eastlands site, so large that it covers two postcodes in the Ardwick and Openshaw areas of Manchester. City’s £100m Etihad Campus, which has been designed to attract and develop the best young talent on the planet, is a year from completion, while the club are in consultation with the local community regarding a 6,000 seat expansion of the Etihad Stadium’s south stand ahead of the 2015-16 season.

Goal understands that the club are also considering undertaking further work on the north stand with a view to surpassing Arsenal’s 60,361 capacity at the Emirates Stadium and becoming second only to Old Trafford as the largest club ground in the country. This summer will also see City continue to upgrade the middle tier of the stadium, improving seats and hospitality suites as the club look to attract a greater number of corporate clients to the club.

Quite simply, the pace with which City are operating this summer both on the pitch and off it speaks volumes for the club’s desire to not only catch their city neighbours but ultimately surpass them and become a genuine major player among the world’s more powerful clubs.

Al Mubarak, the most powerful man involved in the day-to-day running of the club, has even had to delay his annual message to the fans on the club’s website, such is the volume of work being undertaken in preparation for the arrival of Pellegrini and the forthcoming transfer window.

At City, the work has only just begun.

Follow Greg Stobart on

We run through the latest talking points in world football, and which stars could be on the move this summer

With domestic seasons coming to an end across Europe, the fans are turning their attentions to who their club will look to sign this summer.

Arsenal, having won the race for Champions League football, will hand Arsene Wenger a hefty transfer war chest, while Tottenham’s hierarchy are plotting next season’s attack from the sunny shores of the Caribbean. Mourinho is set to transform Chelsea, once his return is confirmed, but where will Edinson Cavani be playing next season?

To discuss these and all the other whispers, James Richardson is joined by Goal’s Peter Staunton and former Liverpool and England striker Emile Heskey as we go through the latest talk from the transfer market.