 Džeko's coach at the time though, Jiří Plíšek, saw his potential and when Plíšek returned home, he advised Teplice to buy him.Željezničar accepted a bid of just €25,000 for Džeko, one of Željezničar's directors saying years later, "[we] thought we won the lottery".Džeko had a loan spell with Ústí nad Labem in 2005, during which he scored six goals in 15 games.