Didi Hamann has spoken exclusively to
mcfc.co.uk after we broke the news
yesterday of his one-year contract extension clause being activated.
Despite reports that Sven-Goran Eriksson had ‘handed’ the former German international a new deal, he explained the situation himself, saying: “Once I’d reached a certain number of games then the extension kicked in and obviously things are going well.”
After suffering an injury-hit first season under Stuart Pearce, Hamann has enjoyed a renaissance with Eriksson in charge this year, making more appearances than the whole of last term.
And with 28 appearances to date this campaign, ‘the Kaiser’ is glad to have his contract for next season confirmed.
“I hoped to play those games and that to happen because I’m happy here and there’s no reason to go anywhere else,” he stated.
“It didn’t bother or affect me, but either way I know I’ll be here next year and hopefully another one after that. I’m taking it year-by-year from that point of view, but game-by-game now though.”
City aren’t in action this week like many other Barclays Premier League teams, although that cloud for the 34-year-old midfielder does have a silver lining after a thus far hectic 2008.
Hamann declared: “Obviously we were disappointed to have been knocked out of the FA Cup, but the good thing is that we get a few days off.
“We played a lot of games over Christmas and just after, so now to get a few days off, we’ll hopefully come back fresh and recharged with 12 games to go.
“We need to then get as many points on the board as possible and finish in a position which gets us into Europe next year.”