Roma star Eden Dzeko claims ‘everybody told me to snub Chelsea’ but opens door to summer exit
The 32-year-old was heavily linked with a move to the Blues in January, before deciding to stay in Serie A
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EDIN DZEKO has claimed he was told to reject the advances of Chelsea in January as "nobody" wanted him to join the Blues.
was desperate to bring the Roma striker to Stamford Bridge, but was knocked back in his efforts to nab the Bosnian international.
Chelsea eventually brought in Olivier Giroud from Arsenal, having failed to prise the ex-Manchester City ace away from the Italian capital.
However, the FA Cup winners did manage to lure his team-mate Emerson Palmieri to West London for a fee of £19million.
Dzeko revealed in February he was "honoured" to received interest from the club, but stressed he is happy in Rome.
Speaking to , Dzeko said of the proposed move: "Chelsea is a big challenge and I know what kind of a club that is, I've been at Man City and I wasn't ready to move to Chelsea.
"Nobody I spoke to wanted me to move to Chelsea so I decided to stay.
"It has been tough period, a lot of stories and information, true and false, were written, everything went through my head, I wasn't clear or certain of anything at the time.”
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Dzeko ended the season with 24 goals in all competitions - while also helping Roma to the Champions League semi-finals where they lost to Liverpool 7-6 on aggregate.
The two-time Premier League is tied down at the Stadio Olimpico until 2020, but he has hinted that he would be open for a move away in the summer.
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He added: "Now I will play two games for Bosnia and then we'll see [where will I play].
"I have another two years of contract, so Roma has to be asked about it too."