Bosnian will now have to stay in the north west until the summer.
New Manchester City head coach Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that out-of-favour front man Edin Dzeko will not be allowed to leave Eastlands to join Premier League leaders Arsenal when the winter transfer window opens again at the turn of the year, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph.
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The north London have been heavily linked with the prolific Bosnia and Herzegovina international in recent weeks as Gunners manager Arsene Wenger steps up his search for a new striker to be able to provide current first-choice forward Olivier Giroud with some much-needed support in attack at the Emirates in the second half of this campaign.
Dzeko has mainly been used as a bit-part player up front so far this season by City’s Chilean boss, who has instead decided to go with the in-form Sergio Aguero and recent new big-money signing Alvaro Negredo.
As a result, the 27-year-old has been restricted to 14 matches to date in total in all competitions for the north-west outfit, registering an impressive seven goals and three assists along the way, including three strikes and two assists in his eight Premier League outings for the Blues.
However, any hopes that Arsenal may have had of luring Dzeko south in January have now been dashed, with Pellegrini stating that: “No, that is not the case [that Dzeko could be sold].”
“I put my trust in him before the season and I have just as much trust in him now. It is very important for this club to have a good squad because we have a lot of games to play from now until April and, if we want to win trophies, we need important players.
“Maybe at the moment he is not playing as much as he would like, but he remains an important part of the squad.”
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