“I was shocked when i heard Mahdavikia has joined Steel Azin,” said Mahdavikia's agent Mahmoud Reza Fazeli in an interview with goal.com on Tuesday.
“This is not true. I strongly deny any offers or talks because neither (the club's co-owner) Mr. (Hossein) Hedayati nor (the technical manager) Mr. Heshmat Mohajerani talked to me regarding the matter,” he added.
“I had a telephone conversation with the executive chairman of Eintracht Frankfurt (Heribert Bruchhagen) today and he underlined that Mahdavikia trains well and with motivation and he wasn't on the last match list due to the coach's personal decision,” he explained.
According to Fazeli, the German club is not using Mahdavikia in order to cut the club's expenses, as the former Iranian skipper is among the club's three most expensive players.
“I emphasize that Mahdavikia will never join an Iranian soccer club this year,” he concluded.
Fazeli's remarks come after Iranian news agencies had reported that Mahdavikia is in talks with the Tehran-based club Steel Azin to sign a one-year contract.
Mahdavikia, who played 111 times for Iran and scored 13 goals, announced his retirement from the Iranian national soccer squad which failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
A number of foreign media outlets claimed that Mahdavikia and three other Iranian players -- Ali Karimi, Hossein Ka'abi, and Vahid Hashemian -- were banned for life over showing 'a display of political support' for the failed presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi by wearing green wristbands in the World Cup qualifier against South Korea.
But according to the Iranian football Federation's Vice President Mehdi Taj, the top players bade farewell to the national team of their own volition.