Mehdi unfazed by United rumours

PlanetFootball - IRANIAN international Mehdi Mahdavikia has played down speculation in the German press that he would replace David Beckham at Manchester United, should the England skipper decide to leave Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old has been in tremendous form this season and Hamburg will face tough competition from several European top clubs to keep their most valuable player, with the German media suggesting that he is top of Sir Alex Ferguson's wish list.

"I don't want to talk about other clubs who might be interested in my services," Mahdavikia told planetfootball.com.

"I have a contract here at Hamburg until 2004 and I only think about HSV at the moment."

Inspired by the Iranian, Hamburg climbed to fourth after their 1-0 home win versus struggling Arminia Bielefeld and Mahdavikia believes they still have a fair chance to storm into the top three and qualify for Champions League football.

"It will be tough to beat either Stuttgart or Dortmund in the race for the Champions League spots, but given our excellent record at home, I believe that we are still in with a chance," declared Mahdavikia, whose team is four points adrift of third-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Mahdavikia has set-up more goals than any other Bundesliga player this season and has earned widespread praise for his powerful forays and his well-timed crosses from the right, and even his coach Kurt Jara has recently compared him to Beckham.

"I was pleased by Jara's kind words, but generally I don't like these kind of comparisons. I am Mehdi Mahdavikia," affirmed the Iranian.