IRNA - The Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper said
Tuesday evening's European Champions League encounter with Group G opponents
FC Porto is Mehdi Mahdavikia's last chance to return to Hamburg's starting
line-up and have any realistic prospects to renew his contract at the end of
this Bundesliga season.
"The game in Porto is extremely important for the team and of course also
for me. We have to do our utmost to get out of this bad phase," said
Mahdavikia who lost the starting job in the wake of his dismal play in his
squad's shocking first-round German elimination cup loss against an amateur
club.
The 29-year-old Iranian international whose three-game Bundesliga ban will
expire next week, has been fighting to have his contract extended beyond
this season.
Mahdavikia who joined HSV in 2001 from VfL Bochum, is reportedly earning 2.3
million euros a year.
German football experts have expressed serious doubts whether Hamburg will
be willing to sign a new deal with Mahdavikia, given his high salary and
HSV's horrendous debts estimated at around 95 million euros.
A self-proclaimed Bundesliga championship contender, HSV is currently ranked
17th in the 18-team German first football division.
