West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has moved to quell talk about a potential Hammers move for Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko. The Roma star, 32, is contracted to the Giallorossi till 2020 but has been linked to the Irons apart from a host of other clubs (Chelsea were also very interested in securing his services earlier this season).
Dzeko, who previously played for Man City, has not ruled out a return to the Premier League, saying that “he loved the competition”, although he admitted that his age could be a negative factor.
However Hammers boss Pellegrini told reporters at a press conference ahead of their home clash against Tottenham that he (Pellegrini) “knew him well but we are not thinking about that at the moment”. The two parties have worked together at the Etihad when the Chilean managed the Citizens a few years ago.
Despite his age, Dzeko remains capable of some splendid strikes- he scored a fantastic volley exactly a year ago against Chelsea in the Champions League, and netted a brilliant winner for Roma away at Torino in August.
A look at fan analysis of West Ham games this season reveals that Pellegrini’s men seem very dependent on Marko Arnautovic for goals. They have other strikers on their books, such as Lucas Perez and Chicharito Hernandez, but they’ve hardly played this season- the former has been sparingly used as a substitute while the latter has been injured/ill for most of the 18/19 campaign.