The Spaniard still hasn’t given up on signing Dzeko.
A £17.1m deal has been agreed between Napoli and Bayern Munich for striker Mario Gomez, but new manager Rafael Benitez wants Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko, according to TuttoSport.
Gomez has been out-of-favour at the Allianz Arena this season with the emergence of Mario Mandzukic and with the expected departure of Edison Cavani from the Naples club, the German seemed like the perfect replacement.
However, Benitez is more interested in bringing Dzeko to the Stadio San Paolo as his new front-man, with the Bosnian suffering a similar fate to the Bayern striker by being ousted from his team at Eastlands.
Under former City manager Roberto Mancini the 27-year-old was a regular feature, playing 62 Premier League matches in two seasons and netting 28 goals.
Yet since the sacking of the Italian, Dzeko’s future at the Etihad Stadium appears to be in doubt and the Citizens may move the forward on just two-and-a-half years after paying £32.6m to Wolfsburg for him.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis appears to be less convinced by the Bosnia international however and is instead looking to force a deal through for Gomez by July 10 at the latest.
The German international is also 27 and has impressed for both club and country since his £26.4m transfer to Bayern in 2009.
For Germany Gomez has scored 25 goals in 58 appearances and despite relatively limited opportunities at the Bundesliga champions this season, has still managed to find the net an impressive 19 times in 32 matches.
It seems that Benitez and De Laurentiis may need to discuss their differences and decide on which striker will be the best option to take the club forward, after the expected departure of star Cavani.
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