Mediocre Hamburg plans to revamp team, ponders Mahdavikia trade

Persianleague
- Feb 20, 2002
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IRNA -- Hamburger SV management officials, discontent with their squad's below-par performance, plan to revamp the team into a top European club by trading several players, including Iranian football star Mehdi Mahdavikia, DPA said here Tuesday.
Hamburg, currently five points away from the relegation zone, started this Bundesliga season with ambitions of landing a berth in the Champions League but soon had to give up their dreams. Hamburg manager, Holger Hieronymus, made clear after last Saturday's defeat against Borussia Moenchengladbach that several
players would be traded away at the end of the season.
"There will be changes in the personnel area," Hieronymus said.
The chairman of the club, Werner Hackmann added that this would also include players who have a long-term contract.
Several players who would enable the team to garner a substantial transfer fee, are currently on the trading block, including Ingo Hertzsch, Sergei Barbarez and Mehdi Mahdavikia whose contract runs until 2004.
Mahdavikia is expected to earn the team around 3 million euros, should they decide to sell him.
With few exceptions, the former Pirouzi striker has had a dismal season this year, missing three months last fall as a result of Iran's long World Cup qualification campaign.
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