Edin Džeko. City’s new Bosnian hitman (can you apply such a nickname to a man from the Balkans without causing eyebrows being raised?) Previously a laughing stock at Željezničar in Bosnia (a board member declared they had won the lottery when selling him for €25,000), then a laughing stock at Teplice and then during his loan spell at Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic. 6 years ago he cost €25,000. Manchester City have recently paid in the region of €30,600,000 for his services from Wolfsburg.
Has a players stock risen quite as sharply as this young Bosnians in footballing history?
Bambi on Ice
A rough translation of Edin’s debut performance for Teplice, was he really that bad? Surely the press would not write off a young player quite so soon into his new career in a new country, especially given the paltry transfer fee? Well, they did.
One man didn’t. Step forward Jiri Plišek. This man was Edin’s coach and mentor for Željezničar and upon taking The Teplice job made Džeko his first signing. At this time he was seen as a midfield anchor man, played in a position more akin to stopping goals than scoring them. It’s fair to say that the first months in Edin’s Teplice career were an unmitigated disaster. He had difficulty settling in at his new club and many said he lacked the technical ability to play as a ball winning midfielder.
As Edin lost his place in the Teplice starting line up, Ústí nad Labem made an ambitious approach to bring him in on loan. This was a no brainer as Plišek saw it. Not only did it allow Edin to keep his match fitness but it also gave him the opportunity to build up his confidence at a lower grade of football in the Druha liga, the 2nd tier in the Czech Republic.
Bosnian Coal
The transition to Ústí nad Labem wasn’t an immediate success, although Edin was now played as an out and out striker, he did not quite have his goal scoring touch. Chances were missed but things were looking up. A good striker scores chances, but that’s the easy part of his job. Getting into the positions is the hard part and that’s what Edin was now doing with ease.
His height, his ever increasing technical ability, acceleration and increasing upper body strength soon made Edin a force to be reckoned with, much in the same way Emile Heskey is viewed in England. The goals were not flowing, in fact they hadn’t started 7 games into the loan agreement, but he was proving to be more than a handful for opposition defenders.
Bosnian Diamond
Something clicked, 6 goals in 8 games came after getting his first from a goal mouth scramble for Ústí nad Labem and this saw his loan spell cut short and he was recalled to Teplice. The gangly defensive midfielder had returned from his loan spell as a goal scorer with a growing reputation in the media and a mutual respect from his fellow professionals.
13 goals in his first full season for Teplice saw him finish as the Gambrinus liga’s top goal scorer. Teplice knew they had something very special. Unfortunately for them, Magath, then coach of Wolfsburg knew it too and was quick to wrap up a deal that saw Edin join the Bundesliga club for €4,000,00. This in itself was a rise of metaphoric proportions.
Bosnian Legend
Since the UNICEF ambassador’s transfer to Wolfsburg he simply hasn’t looked back. He has quite simply become the most natural goal scorer of his generation in Europe with the strike rate to back it up.
City fans may expect this to continue, but don’t be alarmed if it doesn’t. Whilst Edin has a worthy strike partner (and he should never be short of that whilst in Manchester) he’ll offer more to the team than just goals as his sublime pass to Yaya Toure proved in the recent game against Wolves.
Mancini’s press conferences suggest he will start against Villa tomorrow, a game that undoubtedly thousands of City fans will watch on ESPN. Unusually for a game involving these two sides, a large number of Bosniaks will also be watching and cheering on their hero. In this signing City have captured one player, but thousands of fans.
Amen
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