'Dzeko's failure to accept no 2 role cost him City status'

A failure to accept his place in the pecking order at Manchester City, was perhaps one of the few things preventing Edin Dzeko from becoming a true hero at the club. Without doubt the City faithful adored the big Bosnian forward, his name still echoes around the Etihad nearly every match day, despite him having left the club nearly four years ago. 

However, former City teammate of Dzeko, centre-back Joleon Lescott has revealed, in an interview with 'Sky Sports' Graham Hunter, that the Bosnian was always striving to replace strike partner Sergio Aguero in the 'Blues' lineup, and as such Dzeko did not get as much playing time as many thought he deserved.  Lescott revealed: "The only person who didn’t realise it at the time was Edin Dzeko, he saw Sergio playing but didn’t realise that Sergio played well with Edin, but because he got more plaudits he felt they were not treating them the same." 

Lescott explained that the only manner in which secondary players in the squad would earn playing time was to adapt their personal performances to suit their superiors. He said:  "“I realised Vincent was going to play so I had to make our partnership the best in the team...Barry also realised it – that Yaya would play, he had to make them the best they could be, because then he would play."

Lescott finished his explanation by clarifying: "We had a spine of the team, and if you played well with them, you would play every week."

95. AGUERO SCORES AND WINS THE LEAGUE!!!!

— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 13, 2012

In the title winning season of 2011-2012, Dzeko was arguably one of the top contributors to the side, particularly in terms of goals, but also putting in great inidvidual performances in  tricky games away from home. For example, the Bosnian scored 4 goals away at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur, in what had beforehand been billed as a potential title clash and a tough fixture for the blues. 

And of course, Dzeko scored the all-important equaliser against QPR on the final day of that season, without which Sergio Aguero could not have claimed the 'Citizens' first title in 40 years with 'that goal'.  Nonetheless, in the eyes of first Roberto Mancini, then Manuel Pellegrini and a large portion of the fans; in spite of being appreciated, Dzeko would always be second best to his Argentine ex teammate. 

Dzeko moved to Serie A side Roma in 2015, and has since become a revelation for the Italian giants, scoring 78 goals in 148 games.  While City have also moved on; since the Bosnian left, City have recruited Pep Guardiola, and signed a striking replacement in young Brazilian Gabriel Jesus, who it has to be said, also struggled to adapt to playing second-fiddle to Aguero when he arrived in Manchester. 

However, a year later, Jesus was the man to score the historic goal for the 'Citizens'. After replacing an injured Aguero for the remaining Premier League games of the 2017-18 campaign; Jesus netted a last-minute lobbed effort against Southampton in the final match, which meant that City  took all three points, and as such recorded the first ever 100 point tally in England's top flight. 

Of course, young Jesus has some way to go to surpass the achievements of record goalscorer Aguero in the sky blue of Manchester City. However, it begs the question that, if Edin Dzeko had cottoned on to his secondary role during his time in England, whether the Bosnian could have surpassed the Argentine himself.

Alas Aguero has so far outlasted any competitors to his place as City's cult hero; he is still chasing Alan Shearer's all-time goal scoring record in the Premier League. Who knows, he could yet (by some miracle) further improve his standing in Manchester before he eventually decides to bid farewell...