Merkur says Real have been in touch with Dzeko’s representatives about the prospect of the Bosnia international moving to Spain in the summer.

However, the 24 year-old, according to the Munich newspaper, has his heart set on staying in Germany and joining Bayern Munich. There is also interest in England from Tottenham, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea.

Real’s approach for Dzeko casts fresh doubt on the future of French striker Karim Benzema.

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Defense

Chiellini – currently plays for Juventus in Serie A, a highly rated centre back. He is younger, and would do well in United’s back four. Might be easy to prey from Juventus do to the clubs poor run this season, especially with the temptation of Champions League action.

Miacon – currently plays for Inter Milan in Seria A, rated as a top right back in the world. Responsible for Inter’s recent success in the Champions League, by holding off many attacks. He is 28, but comes with experience that is needed and relative youth compared to the rest of United’s right back options.

Midfield

Relatively, United’s midfield is fairly solid, there is decent depth with Park, Nani, Anderson,Hargreaves and company. However, there is not one player that has been able to step into the creativity side that C. Ronaldo fulfilled. This is why United should pursue the following players:

Gourcuff – currently playing for Bordeaux in the French Ligue 1, and has demonstrated that he can create play. An attacking midfielder who has an eye for the game, and can anticipate.

Misimovic – currently playing for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, and perhaps one of the few reasons that the club is not doing worse the midtable. Fellow Bosnian international Dzeko, and Brazilian Grafite might be credited with Wolfsburg title win last season, but it was Misimovic pulling the strings.

Ribery – currently playing for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, fast paced and always on the run trying to create play. The French international is looking to move from Bayern this summer, but his price tag is going to be high. Not to mention that the likes of Real Madrid are also in pursuit of him.

Robben – plays for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga as well, and perhaps a more affordable target. Has a fast pace, and a powerful kick with either his right or left leg. The Dutchman saved Bayern against Fiorentia, and helped the club advance past United in the Champions League.

Attack

Dzeko – currently plays for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, and a top rated striker. Last season helped Wolfsburg win the league title, and this season continues to be a scoring threat with 18 goals, 2nd in the league. He does come with a price tag of 40 million, but is youthful and experienced.

Aguero – currently plays for Atlético Madrid in La Liga, and is a dream signing. This striker can play alone, or along side a partner, and loves to go wide. Continues to be a serious scoring threat in La Liga, and could be an easy signing if Atletico Madrid’s financial problems do not improve.

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Bayern’s victory on away goals, after Arjen Robben’s volley saw a pulsating and ultimately rancorous quarter-final finish 4-4 on aggregrate, means there will be no English club in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in seven years and Ferguson was incensed about the manner in which his team were removed from the competition, despite winning 3-2 on the night. The United manager reported that Rooney would miss Sunday’s Premier League match at Blackburn Rovers after taking several kicks to his injured right ankle but most of his ire was reserved for the way the Bayern players had urged the Italian referee to show Rafael a second yellow card after his 50th-minute pull at Franck Ribéry’s arm.

“They got him sent off,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that and they would have never won if we had 11 men. He [Rafael] is a young boy, inexperienced and there’s a bit of immaturity about what happened but they got him sent off. Typical Germans.”

“That sending off changed the game. I thought they were typical professionals in the way they saw the opportunity and forced the referee. It was only a slight tug at the boy and, Jesus, he was 35 yards from goal.”

“He [Rafael] was having a marvellous game and it’s a tragedy for him but the ref wasn’t going to do anything until they forced him to get a card out. But we’ve seen that before from teams like that.”

Ferguson went on to describe Bayern as “lucky”, asserting that United had been the better team over the two legs.

UEFA has announced that they will not be taking action against Ferguson for his comments.

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The squad has not changed that much from the team that Felix Magath had put together to win the league, but Magath himself is no longer present. His departure from the club raised many concerns from the players, with key contributors such as Misimovic and Dzeko threatening to leave the club over his departure. Could his leaving really be the contributing factor to Wolfsburg lack of success this year? Maybe, but more likely it is due to the fact that the man, Armin Veh, who filled Magath’s shoes was less then adequate. In fact, the idea that Wolfsburg even considered him to fill in for Magath, let alone hired him is absolutely mind-boggling. Armin Veh was hired on for VfB Stuttgart, but quickly sacked halfway through the season after the team was sitting just 11th in the table. The season before that Stuttgart secured a UEFA Cup qualifying spot. Veh was able to take a top Bundesliga team and turn them into a mid-table performer, sound familiar? The smartest thing that Wolfsburg brass did regarding Veh was terminating his contract with the club, since then interim manager Kostner has led the team onto 4 wins and 2 loses, helping progress to the quarter finals in UEFA Europa League.

Although Veh has a large share of the blame for Wolfsburg failure, he is not alone. Key player Grafite has produced poor results this season compared to last. In 26 games he has managed 9 goals, missed 21 of his 47 shots, and has been subbed off 8 times. Compared to last season where he scored 28 goals, hit 53 out of 69 shots, and had only been subbed off 3 times. In fact, Grafite and fellow teammate Edin Dzeko combined to become the most successful striking duo in Bundesliga history, a record that was previously held for 30 years. What happened? No one seems to know, but if Wolfsburg are to salvage the rest of the season they will need Grafite to get back to him old self.

Finally there is Woflsburg defensive meltdown. The team has managed to net a modest 56 goals, placing them in the top 6 or so scoring teams in the Bundesliga. However, Wolfsburg have conceded 51 goals, placing them with the likes of Hanover and SC Freiburg, teams bond for relegation. Wolfsburg need some serious tweaking in the area, goalkeeper Benaglio has had to ward of injuries and the reliance on him has shown. Although he is now back in the squad, Simunek, Riether, and Barzagli need to pick up the pace. Madlung is probably the only one that has been consecutively performing well.

There is definitely still time for Wolfsburg to make some ground, and go for at least a Europa League qualifying spot. However, the idea of reclaiming the title this year is simply impossible. Had it not been for Madlung putting in the work in defense, Misimovic continue to pull the strings in midfield, and Dzeko staying on form wreaking havoc on defense then Wolfsburg could have been facing relegation this year. Let this be a lesson for all clubs, holding the league title is a much more difficult task then winning it once.

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Last season the Bosnia striker scored 26 goals in 29 league starts to help fire Wolfsburg to their first Bundesliga title in history. The 24-year-old pledged his future to the Wolves last summer by signing a new contract and rejecting overtures from Serie A giants AC Milan.

The striker has repaid the faith shown in him by the German side by scoring 18 league goals to help rescue Wolfsburg’s faltering league campaign.

Rumours of a summer transfer to the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City have surfaced recently, and Dzeko has said he would be keen to join a Premier League side at the end of the season. Kostner admits he is unsure whether Dzeko will stay at the Volkswagen Arena, but he admits he is desperate for the striker to remain at the club.

“Edin Dzeko will finish the season a Wolfsburg player, that’s for definite, whatever happens after that is down to rumours,” said Kostner.

“Edin Dzeko saying he will stay would be an absolutely huge sign for us. I can’t tell you how important that would be for us, but that’s neither here nor there. Right now we have to wait to see what happens in May.

“As his manager I can’t have much influence on whether he stays or not. All I can say at the moment is that he is on absolute top form. He’s really firing on all cylinders. He’s doing fantastic.”

Dzeko will line up alongside his Brazilian counterpart Grafite against the Cottagers on Thursday as they look to overturn a 2-1 deficit from last week’s first leg at Craven Cottage.

Fulham had looked to be coasting towards their first Europa League semi-final after opening the scoring courtesy of goals from Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff. Alexander Madlung’s last minute header gave the German side a vital away goal though and Kostner has called on his team to give their all to set up a last four tie with either Hamburg or Standard Liege.

“Before the game in Fulham I said that we’d need two excellent performances to get through,” the 58-year-old said. “We didn’t give them two weak goals in the first leg but we made life easier for them by not concentrating for the two goals.

“Madlung’s goal gives us a good chance now but what we need to do is to be determined. We have to have the will, be determined to give an absolutely excellent performance.

“We need everyone in this club, including the fans, to give a performance for 90 minutes, maybe longer and that’s the way we’ll get through to the semi finals.”

Kostner’s side warmed up for the game with an emphatic 4-0 win over Hoffenheim to move up to ninth in the Bundesliga. The Wolfsburg manager has been boosted by the news that captain Josue and key defender Madlung should be fit for tomorrow’s clash after overcoming hamstring injuries.

Fulham’s 2-1 win over Wigan on Sunday was their first since February but Kostner has warned against taking the Londoners too lightly. “We can’t go hell for leather tomorrow,” said Kostner.

“Fulham are a compact dangerous team who are strong in defence and have big guys up front so that provides us with a dangerous situation.”

Arguably Fulham’s most famous fan, Hugh Grant, is reported to be attending Thursday night’s match but Wolfsburg midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic has warned the actor that his trip to Lower Saxony may turn out to be an unhappy one.

“I’ve only just heard that he’s a Fulham fan,” said the 27-year-old, who set up Madlung’s crucial goal last week. “Of course he’s welcome to come to the game but come the final whistle he won’t have much to laugh about.”

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The visitors made the most of their advantage and Arjen Robben, the former Chelsea winger, settled the tie with a majestic volley. England, for the first tine since 2003, has no representative in the last four of the Champions League. That outcome had barely been feasible early in the evening.

By the eighth minute, United had scored twice to assume a 3-2 lead on aggregate. The goals arrive effortlessly, yet great deliberation had gone into the shaping of this line-up. There might even have been a tinge of subterfuge to the project.

Wayne Rooney was deemed fit despite having sustained what appeared to be damage to his ankle ligaments in the defeat to Bayern eight days before. His inclusion was not a complete surprise, since rumours of a rapid recovery had been circulating for a little while. Sir Alex Ferguson’s downbeat tone when discussing Rooney’s prospects had simply ensured there would be a fillip for the crowd when the team was confirmed.

The opening reflected that excitement. After three minutes, Rafael knocked the ball in from the right and Rooney laid it off to set up Darron Gibson for the first European goal of his career. He should have been denied it but the Bayern goalkeeper, Hans-Jorg Butt, was peculiarly slow to react as the attempt went past him on his left.

United’s next goal was distinctly more stylish. Antonio Valencia beat the left-back Holger Badtsuber and his cutback was flicked into the net by Nani with the inside of his foot. It was reminiscent of the opener by Joe Cole that set Chelsea on course here last Saturday. Serious harm was done then to United’s prospects of retaining their Premier League title and it was inevitable that there should be consequences.

After championing the readiness of the veteran Gary Neville to cope with the swift Ribéry, Ferguson omitted the right-back, who was not even on the bench. The young Rafael had an impact in his place, although that benefit was wiped away by that red card. Ferguson’s preference for him must have reflected the lack of energy shown by United in their losses to Bayern and Chelsea. Old-timers such as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs took seats on the bench, while Gibson was brought into the midfield.

The starting line-up also featured Nani and Valencia in an expression of intent, to sweep the play to the visitors with pace on the flanks. Such steps would not necessarily have thrown Ferguson’s opposite number into a panic. Louis van Gaal must have been satisfied of late with his team’s form. Their fragility here must have shocked him.

United were almost carefree. Even when Rooney limped after seeming to land awkwardly he was soon signalling to the bench that he could run off the harm done to his ankle – although it soon emerged that he was in pain. During the interval, Ferguson observed that the opposition were targeting that weak spot and the attacker was replaced in the 55th minute.

Most people would have expected Bayern to be disconsolate by that stage. The tone of Old Trafford had been jubilant when Valencia’s deep cross was lashed past Butt by Nani, who took his second goal with a first-time volley in the 43rd minute. That 3-0 lead, however, was to spread unwise relaxation. Two minutes later a lethargic Michael Carrick did almost nothing to prevent Ivica Olic, the scorer of the winner in Munich, from trimming the lead. Almost immediately, the United goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, did well to reach a curler from Robben that would otherwise have put Bayern ahead on the away goals rule.

The reduction of United to 10 men did not necessarily imply that they would be oppressed constantly. While Ferguson had sent on a defender, John O’Shea in place of Rooney, there was encouragement on the break and Nani, for instance, demanded a good save from Butt in the 63rd minute.

Still, Bayern were heartened and sought the goal that promised to pilot them to the semi-finals. Van der Sar excelled in dealing with a Ribéry drive and a header from Mario Gomez, a substitute, went alarmingly close to the target. There was a sense that these sides cannot help themselves from concocting drama.

The Robben volley that sent Bayern into the lead in the tie was majestic yet United, even when outnumbered, ought to have had him covered as Ribéry dropped a corner kick from the left to the far corner of the penalty area. Once more there was memorable mayhem and surprise in the clash of these clubs, although the suffering was great for United.

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