West Ham United are keen to bring Edin Dzeko back to the Premier League this summer with Roma listening to offers of around £12 million for the evergreen striker, according to Calciomercato.
Now, the Hammers do not exactly have a stellar track record when it comes to signing battle-scarred veterans who are coming towards the end of a storied playing career.
Alvaro Arbeloa, Marco Borriello, Patrice Evra, Carlos Sanchez and Roberto Jimenez all endured disastrous spells in claret and blue, after all.
And the London Stadium faithful could be forgiven for worrying whether a deal for Dzeko would be another example of flushing funds down the drain.
But, even at 34, the former Manchester City favourite still has a lot left in the tank.
Dzeko remains as prolific as ever in front of goal. He has an impressive 17 goals and ten assists across 34 games for an inconsistent Roma side in 2019/20 – so absolutely nobody should be writing him off just yet.
And while Roma have placed the Bosnian on the transfer market, that is due to financial rather than sporting reasons, it seems.
It is no secret that the Giallorossi will have to raise funds via player sales this summer with their hopes of Champions League football going up in smoke.
And that means Dzeko, their talismanic top scorer, will have to be sacrificed.
With a £130,000-a-week contract, the two-time Premier League winner is Roma’s highest earner after all. Calciomercato reports that West Ham have a mountain to climb, however, with Juventus and Inter Milan also battling for his signature.
Maybe Dzeko will be less Borriello, more a second coming of Paulo di Canio at West Ham.
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