In their desperate attempts (at least they seem to be), Arsenal might finally peg one player back from Manchester City after losing a few to them over the years, looking to bolster their striking options with Edin Dzeko, who feels he’s being a bit left out by Roberto Mancini who prefers to see others start for him.

Despite scoring 14 goals in 28 matches last season, Dzeko is pretty much fourth on the forward option at the Etihad stadium – Sergio Aguero (currently injured), Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and only then Dzeko, who came off the bench in the opening match to help Manchester City complete an impressive comeback against Southampton, just like he did against QPR in the title clinching match back in May.

The 26 year old Bosnian, who arrived at Manchester City from Wolfsburg for a fee of £27 million, the highest price ever paid for an ex-Yugoslavia player and the second highest price Manchester City ever spent on a player at the time, coming behind Robinho by a few million.

Dzeko had a wonderful first half to last season but at some point, he simply lost his place in the lineup to quicker men, maybe because Mancini thought his style of play didn’t compliment whatever it was he was trying to do with the team. Dzeko did get the odd start here and there, but was mostly relegated to a substitute job, and despite the injury Sergio Aguero picked up in the first match, it doesn’t look to be any different.

Roberto Mancini doesn’t want to let Dzeko go. He likes having a huge squad with plenty of options and backups to turn to when he needs to mix it up a little or fill in for an injured player. But his board wants him to let players go, especially from the expensive striking core he’s got, which includes players like Dzeko and Roque Santa Cruz who use up a lot of the wage bill despite being bench players. Dzeko himself, used to being the center of attention throughout his career and a regular striker, would like a starting job.

While the price City might demand for Dzeko is is rumored to be £18 million and it remains to be seen if Arsenal are willing to pay that kind of price, there’s no doubt that Arsene Wenger needs a front man. Olivier Giroud (in my opinion at least) isn’t the striker he wished for, although judging him to be a failure after two matches is a bit harsh. Still, the Dzeko option, a player who has scored 114 goals in 206 matches since joining Wolfsburg in 2007, through his Manchester City tenure so far, seems like a much better man to fill the position.

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