Bayern Munich are lining up a bid for Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko in the hope of partnering the Bosnian with their top scorer Mario Gomez, according to a report on Thursday.
Bayern shied away from media speculation linking them to Dzeko on Wednesday, but a report in the Bild daily insisted the German giants have already been in contact with Dzeko and need only iron out his personal terms.
Gomez recently signed a contract extension with Bayern, the beaten Champions League finalists, that will keep him at the club until 2016 on an annual salary of nine million euros (£7m, $11m).
Bild, Germany's biggest-selling newspaper, added that Dzeko was Bayern's favoured choice but that the club had also scouted Frenchman Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Dutchman Luuk de Jong (Twente) and Argentinian Matias Suarez (Anderlecht).
Bayern have already acquired a top striker in Peruvian Claudio Pizarro, 33, who signed a one-year deal after his contract with Werder Bremen expired.
Dzeko, 26, already has experience of the Bundesliga, having excelled for Wolfsburg when they won the title in 2009.
In January 2011 he signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with City.
City secured the Premier League title just over a fortnight ago, with Dzeko ending the season on 14 league goals.
