Career

Edin Džeko was born on March 17, 1986 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He began his career in the youth team of Željezničar, where he was recognized as one of the most talented boys of the blue team. He has always been persistent and eager to work, so, unlike many others who failed to make use of their potential, he has managed to turn his quality and hard work into an already impressive carrier.

He began playing at Grbavica in 2003, after singing a professional contract with the blue team, and continued playing until 2005, when, at the age of 18, he went to the Czech Republic. He was first borrowed to Usti, a team from a lower division, so that he could adapt to his new environment. Since Edin was able to so quickly, he was then transferred to Teplice, where he played 43 games in a season scoring 17 goals. He was declared the best foreign player of the Czech League. Soon thereafter Edin received a call from Felix Magath, the coach of Wolfsburg, who managed to bring him to Bundesliga in 2007, in a 4 million euro transfer.

Edin’s first season in Germany showed that great things were in stall for him. He scored eight times, and the German press declared him as a rising star and the top offensive player  of Bundesliga, considering that, once he entered the game, Edin would often tip the scale in favour of his team.

In the subsequent season Magath brought Zvjezdan Misimović to join Džeko, which turned out to be a winning combination. Edin played a brilliant season scoring 26 goals, which earned him the title of the second best scorer of the league. Even more important was his collaboration with Grafite, who was declared best scorer of the league with 28 goals. The two of them earned Wolfsburg the championship, for the fist time in the club’s history.

Together with Grafite, Džeko made up the most efficient strike pairing with the record-high 56 goals, breaking the record previously held by legendary Gerd Mueller and Uli Hoeness.

Edin was declared the best player of the season by Bundesliga players, which brought him offers by several top clubs. Still, he decided to remain in Germany and in the following season became the top scorer of Bundesliga with 22 goals, after which new offers came.

Again he stayed in Wolfsburg, scoring 10 goals in a half-season, thus becoming the best scorer in the history of the club. Namely, in 111 games Edin scored 66 goals for Wolfs, or 84 in total in all competitions, after which everyone was clear that it was time to say goodbye.

The highest bidder was Manchester City, signing a four-year contract with Edin in January 2011, for a record compensation of the German Bundesliga, that amounted to 27.5 million pounds.

Edin had his debut in the Manchester City jersey on 15 January when they won the match against Wolves by 4:3. In his premier match, Edin did not succeed to score, but he had an excellent assist for Yaya Touree’s goal.

The premier goal in the English Premier League Edin scored on 25 April, 2011 in an away match against Blackburn, when he scored the winning and only goal for Manchester City. In the beginning of 2011/2012 season, he scored four goals against Tottenham, in the match that ended by 1:5, thus becoming the first player in the history of Manchester City who scored four goals in a single Premier League match.

Even though in his first season in England Edin was not in the mood for scoring goals, he did manage to score on several major occasions, as a hint of his achievement in the following season which he claimed would be considerably more efficient.

Said and done!

This season Džeko has been brilliant, scoring 10 goals in the Premiership, adding three more in other competitions, which at this moment makes him the best scorer of the most expensive football team in Europe. In addition to all this. Edin has had three assists for his team mates.

Award and recognitions

• Best foreign player of the Czech league

• Eight nominations for the team of the day of the First Czech League

• Second best scorer of the Czech league

• Best offensive player of the Bundesliga (2007/08) in the competition organized by the portal sportal.de

• Bundesliga Champion (2008/09)

• Best player of Bundesliga (2008/09) declared by German professional players

• Best scorer of the DFB Cup 2008/09

• Sports player of the year (2009. i 2010.) in the competition organized by Dnevni Avaz, a Bosnian daily newspaper

• Second best scorer of the qualifying round for 2010 World Championship with 9 goals

• Best scorer of Bundesliga (22 goals) – in 2009/10 season

• National Idol of 2009 and 2010 in the competition organized by the portal SportSport.ba

• FA Cup winner as a City team player (2010/2011)

• Etihad player of the month - January and August 2011

• Best player of the Premiership - August 2011