Edin Dzeko explains why he never thought about what Romelu Lukaku had done before him and reveals he snubbed Chelsea and Inter when Antonio Conte was in charge.
The former Roma striker replaced Lukaku over the summer and is Inter’s best scorer this season along with Lautaro Martinez.
Lukaku scored 64 goals in 95 matches over two seasons with the Nerazzurri, but Dzeko explains why he’s never thought about what his predecessor had achieved at San Siro.
“If you go somewhere and start thinking about who was there before you, then it’s better to go nowhere,” the 35-year-old told Il Corriere della Sera newspaper.
“Had I thought about it even once, I’d never come here. I know what I can give and what I am doing this season is not surprising me.”
Dzeko has scored 12 goals in 29 appearances with the Nerazzurri who are the Serie A table leaders with a four-point lead over Napoli and a game in hand.
What’s his relationship with Simone Inzaghi?
“To me, he is similar to a teammate. He manages the team so well and it’s crucial,” the striker said.
“He tries to be honest with everybody. There are 25 players here. It’s impossible to make everyone’s happy.
“Inzaghi has used Conte’s basis but has changed the footballers’ mentality. They played with a counter-attacking style for two years. Now players have more fun.”
“I don’t only look at the goals,” Dzeko continued. “I try to play for the team and if the team wins without my goals, I am happy anyway.
“We won almost every game in the period that I didn’t score, so I can only be happy.”
Dzeko could have played under Conte at Chelsea and Inter, but the Italian tactician failed to secure the striker’s services twice.
“When he wanted me at Chelsea, I wasn’t sure about a return to the Premier League, but he tried again when he was at Inter,” Dzeko revealed.
“The right moment [to join Inter] came last summer. Our paths had to meet sooner or later. It was destiny.”
You can read the second part of Dzeko’s interview with Il Corriere della Sera here.
I’ve been a fan of Dzeko since his Wolfsburg days and it’s crazy how underrated this man has been. He played a crucial role in Wolfsburgs only title and in two Man City titles (especially the second one). Then he carried a mediocre Roma team and even managed to get to the CL semi-finals with them. Skepticism over his age and fitness was understandable but anyone thinking he was a downgrade from Lukaku in terms of skill is crazy. In my opinion he is a much better striker than Lukaku and as a Milan fan it hurts me that he plays for Inter.
Dzeko has always wanted Milan right from his days at Wolfsburg but it’s a life’s mystery to me why Milan didn’t sign him.