He has scored over 300 goals in his club career and has 64 in 127 for his country. He has finished top scorer in Germany and Italy and has won nine trophies, including every domestic award available in England.
Despite this, Edin Dzeko somehow still gets overlooked when the best forwards of his generation are discussed.
In an age of celebrity and self-publicity, Dzeko’s demure appearance and lack of swagger may have counted against him.
His Inter teammate Romelu Lukaku has had a bright career, but there is no doubt who the superior footballer is. In terms of technique, Dzeko has nothing to envy Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Harry Kane.
At 37 years old, Dzeko may finally be about to get the recognition he deserves. The Bosnian is on the eve of his first Champions League final after help Inter Milan defeated city rivals AC Milan 2-0 in the first leg of the semi-final on 10 May.
Edin Dzeko produced a trademark to put Inter Milan in control of their semi-final
Dzeko has scored goals everywhere he has gone, including helping Wolfsburg win the Bundesliga
The Bosnian’s crucial equalizer enabled Sergio Agüero’s title-winning goal for Man City
He delivered a typical Dzeko performance at San Siro, summed up in his goal: the raw physical strength to hold off Davide Calabria, the wit to read Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner kick, the luscious technique to blast past Mike Maignan.
If Inter push through in the second leg and Manchester City beat Real Madrid, Dzeko will have a chance to thwart the club he left for Roma in 2015 after becoming disheartened under Manuel Pellegrini.
Pep Guardiola subsequently turned down the chance to re-sign Dzeko in January 2021, despite a shortage of strikers, and Dzeko signed for Inter at the end of that season. Guardiola doesn’t get many calls wrong, but he may regret that decision in a few weeks.
Dzeko joined City in January 2011, having scored 29 times for Wolfsburg in the previous season. While virtually every football fan remembers Sergio Aguero’s stoppage-time goal against Queens Park Rangers that sealed City’s first Premier League title in 2012, it was only possible because Dzeko had equalized moments before.
That was the first of two league titles for Dzeko, who also won the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Community Shield before moving to Roma. Being a high-profile player in the Italian capital is a demanding gig and it takes a strong mind to succeed. While Dzeko did not win a trophy there, he did finish as Serie A’s top goalscorer with 29 at the end of his first season as a permanent signing.
However, the passion for football in Rome is as intense as it is relentless. So it may have been a relief for Dzeko when Jose Mourinho arrived in the summer of 2021 and signed Tammy Abraham, allowing Dzeko to join Inter.
Although the Milanese follow the game with as much interest as the Romans, the environment is generally calmer. Football is a job, not a way of life.
Dzeko understands that like no other. He was nine when the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed in December 1995, ending the Bosnian war that had lasted three and a half years. Estimates suggest that about 100,000 people died during the conflict and more than 2.2 million people were displaced.
“The only time I talk about the war is when I talk to foreign journalists,” Dzeko said in an interview with The protector in 2017. ‘I never talk about the war with my family, with my wife, my parents, sister.
Dzeko claimed every prize offered domestically in England during his time at Manchester City
Despite failing to win a trophy with Roma, Dzeko was Serie A’s top goalscorer in his first season
The 37-year-old attacker could complete his great career by winning the Champions League
“I remember it very well, but I don’t see the point of it. It’s something I left behind a long time ago. It was a horrible experience, it changed us all no matter how old you were at the time.
“But when it was done, we all tried to move on. During those three years, everyone, even children, dreamed of a normal life, so when the war was over, we just did.
“But when things go bad, when I go through hard times, I do think about everything my family and I have been through.
‘Take football, for example; I hate losing, I hate when I miss opportunities, but things like that have to happen in football. Then you sit down and think about what was really terrible in your life, times when you had nothing to eat, drink, or normal clothes to wear, you and everyone around you.
‘And you can see that things are going well now. It’s weird to use the word positive in this context, but if there’s anything positive about what we’ve survived, it’s the fact that we’re now aware that there’s always worse in life. And we’ve seen worse firsthand.”
It would be easy to link Dzeko’s childhood memories to what he’s accomplished since then, so it’s better to stick to the facts. He left family and friends in Bosnia for Czech club Teplice aged just 19 and has since scored 323 goals in 732 games in four different countries. If a career deserves to end with the biggest club prize of all, it’s this one.