• Premier League

Pellegrini insists Dzeko stays

Edin Dzeko has lost his place in the team to Alvaro Negredo © Getty Images

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Manuel Pellegrini has insisted he will not do any business in the transfer window and has ruled out allowing Edin Dzeko or Jack Rodwell to leave Manchester City.

Dzeko, 27, has lost his place as a first choice to summer signing Alvaro Negredo and has been linked with Arsenal and Valencia but Pellegrini is adamant he will reject any bids for the Bosnian.

Rodwell, 22, has been a bit-part player this season and has only made two league appearances in an injury-hit campaign, prompting questions over if he will be allowed to join another club on loan.

But manager Pellegrini said: "At this moment nobody will be leaving."

Dzeko, who has scored 10 times this season, has featured in all four games since top scorer Sergio Aguero sustained a calf injury.

And Pellegrini added: "There was never any chance of Dzeko going in January. He is a very important member of the squad. Edin is not playing as often as he wants because of Aguero and Negredo, and because we have bad luck at the moment and [Stevan] Jovetic is also injured, we only have two strikers for all the games, so we must split them.

"Every player wants to play every game but given the games we have it is impossible for that to happen. I repeat that I think he is happy. He is an important player and there may be offers but he won't leave."

Jovetic, a £25 million summer signing from Fiorentina, has only made three City starts as he has struggled with injuries.

He is currently sidelined by a hamstring problem and Pellegrini admits he is unsure why he has been out so often.

He said: "It is difficult to know. I hope this will be the last one and he can start playing. He is an important player.

"I believe in Jovetic. He has had a very bad luck for the first half of the year and I hope the second half will be very good for him. He is trying to do everything."

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