Goal.com

The former Wolfsburg striker only arrived in England in January of last year but he is angling for a move to Italy after slipping down the pecking order at Eastlands

EXCLUSIVE
By Elia Raimondo

Officials from AC Milan and Manchester City met in Italy last week and one of the topics of discussion was the possible transfer of Edin Dzeko to San Siro, Goal.com has learned.

The forward only arrived at Eastlands in January of last year as part of a €32 million transfer from Wolfsburg but he has grown increasingly frustrated by his failure to nail down a regular berth in Roberto Mancini's starting line-up. Indeed, the Bosnian's representatives have been attempting to drum up Italian interest in their client since May, making both Juventus and Milan aware of his dissatisfaction with his current predicament in Manchester.

Club CEO Adriano Galliani has already claimed that Milan's transfer window is closed but, as he admitted on Sunday, he is keeping abreast of all market activity. Hence, the club's desire to meet with City last week.

The Rossoneri tried desperately to sign Carlos Tevez during the January transfer window, and have also been linked with Mario Balotelli since the end of last season. However, the San Siro outfit have given up on the former Corinthians striker and did not even mention the latter during their talks with the Premier League champions in Milan between July 4 and 5.

The Serie A giants retain an interest in Dzeko, though. The English outfit do not want to accept a significant loss on the 26-year-old, but they are desperate to offload a striker given how crowded their forward line has become. The Rossoneri's hand is further strengthened by the fact that Dzeko, a childhood Milan fan, favours a move to San Siro over a possible transfer to Turin.

Milan have their cash-flow concerns, as evidenced by their initial willingness to sell Thiago Silva to Paris Saint-Germain, but they are in a position to meet City's asking price for Dzeko: €24m in deferred payments over a four-year period.

Galliani, though, is willing to bide his time, primarily because of the current uncertainty surrounding the future of star forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but also in the hope that City, in their desperation to move Dzeko on, might lower their asking price. Consequently, this looks like it could prove one of the summer's more protracted transfer sagas.