Joleon Lescott insists that ex-teammate Edin Dzeko is relishing taking on former club Manchester City as Inter Milan attempt to emulate Tottenham to deny them a treble.
The veteran striker comes up against his former side at the Ataturk Arena on Saturday night eight years after leaving the Etihad. Dzeko, a 127-time Bosnian international, enjoyed a hugely successful spell in Manchester.
His 72 goals over four-and-a-half seasons after joining from Wolfsburg helped City to two Premier League crowns, the FA Cup and the League Cup. He brought his stint with the club to a close in 2015 as he joined Italian giants Roma.
Now with their domestic rivals Inter, Dzeko has continued his trophy-laden career. Signed as a replacement for Romelu Lukaku in the summer of 2021, he has claimed back-to-back Coppa Italia titles.
The striker has also been key to the Nerazzuri’s run to their sixth Champions League final appearance. He leads the way on the club’s goalscoring front in Europe with four goals to his name.
Former team-mate Lescott insists that whilst Dzeko is looking forward to an emotional reunion, he will be doing all he can to deprive City of their treble.
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Speaking exclusively to Mirror Football on behalf of BT Sport, the former England man said: “I was with [Dzeko] earlier in the week and I referenced the game being against Man City and he was excited about that. He said he’s wanted to face Man City in the Champions League since he’s left but that wasn’t an added motivation for him to do well.
“Players of that level don’t need extra motivation when you’re in a game of this magnitude. You know what’s at stake.
“You know what you’re going to need to do to be effective. It was a nice occasion for him to be facing Man City but that wasn’t the pinnacle of the tie - it was the Champions League final and what that means to him and obviously Inter Milan.”
City invariably head into the final in Istanbul as favourites against an Inter side that could only finish third and 18 points behind eventual champions Napoli in the Serie A standings. But Lescott is cautious and can see Pep Guardiola’s side slipping into a familiar trap that has caused them trouble in the past on the domestic front.
He added: “Man City I believe will have more possession, dictate the tempo and create goals and opportunities in a way we’ve seen before. I think if they are to lose the game, it will be a fashion due to the style and the set-up of Inter.
“I think it will be compact, they’ll want to hit Man City on the break. They have to be super-efficient with that.
“Similar to like a Spurs set-up which is probably creating an element of doubt over the win for me. This team want to play like Spurs over the past few years. On a one-off basis, Spurs have caused Man City some problems.”
BT Sport is the exclusive home of the UEFA Champions League Final. Watch Manchester City v Inter Milan exclusively live on BT Sport 1 on Saturday 10th June from 6pm. The final is also available for anyone to watch at www.btsport.com/final, on the BT Sport YouTube channel, and via the BT Sport App
