In what nearly ended up as an underwhelming summer transfer window, there was finally some reprieve to be found for a long-suffering Roma fan. After spending almost the entire summer chasing Edin Dzeko, I was glad that we finally landed him in what could potentially be the most important transfer made in recent seasons after the acquisition of full ownership rights to Nainggolan. Despite his more than average stats on FIFA and FM, he was a cornerstone of Roma’s midfield last season, providing leadership in place of the missing de Rossi and important goal contributions, glossing over an utterly deficient attack last season. But the signing of Dzeko could be the most important of yet.
Arriving on back of an impressive goal-scoring pedigree (with the exception of last season), his height masks the fact of his more than decent skills on the ball. One of the main reasons as to explain Mattia Destro’s exclusion from the squad (another player whom I really liked) was the simple plain fact that he is just a one-dimensional player in the mould of Ruud van Nistelrooy who is merely capable of finishing off chances, but unable to partake in the team’s attacking moves.
Despite Totti’s claims that he intends to play for as long as he can, it is growing evident that he can barely last 45 minutes or function effectively as a false 9. With Juan Iturbe and Adem Ljajic both failing to convince as viable alternatives to Totti’s role as the designated false 9 in the team and Gervinho being the poor man’s version of Ronaldo, it is indeed time for the team to return to the formation back when Gabriel Batistuta was spearheading Roma’s attack.
Batistuta’s game was primarily characterized by his penchant for scoring goals by the bucket loads, to the extent that fans eventually christened him “Batigol”. Dzeko, despite hailing from a lesser pedigree as his legendary predecessor, has the ability to provide an immediate panacea to address the team’s impotency in front of goal and being able to play with his back to the goal.
Exciting times lie ahead, with the addition of Mohammad Salah (best Egyptian player in the world mind you) to relieve some of the creative burden from Gervinho on the opposite flank and provide incision from the flanks, hopefully continuing the excellent goal-scoring run he embarked on last season while on loan at Fiorentina. Taking into account that Juventus lost 3 of their key players from last season, this could be a season to mount a serious assault on the Serie A title after years of near misses.
After years of playing second fiddle to Sergio Aguero at Man City, it is time for Dzeko to resume his role as the chief goal scorer just as how he did for Felix Magath’s Wolfsburg in that unlikely Bundesliga title win in 2009.
footbore 