On Sunday, Hamburger SV confirmed the arrival of Emir Spahic on their official club website. The Bosnian will sign for the "Rothosen" on a one-year deal after his medical. Due to the cancelation of his contract at Bayer Leverkusen, he will join Hamburg on a free transfer.
The 34-year old should join to the squad on Monday, who are currently in Switzerland for their pre-season training camp.
Everything was cleared
Hamburg's chairman, Dietmar Beiersdorfer, said that, "We spoke about the events in Leverkusen together and decided to sign him up." He believes that HSV have got a player "of the highest quality class on a free transfer" and bring a "lot of stability in the current situation".
Sporting director, Peter Knäbel, is also happy about the new signing: "Spahic is able to become a leader of the squad, because of his experience and presence on the pitch."
In an interview with Hamburg's coach, Bruno Labbadia admitted he "had some doubts about the transfer of Emir Spahic", and he thinks "that the opinions of outsiders are justified". However after a long talk with the player he "had the feeling" that he should sign the Bosnian up.
He added that, "Spahic is one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga" and predicts he will be "able to give the younger players security".
Last season, Spahic made 22 appearances in the Bundesliga for Bayer 04 Leverkusen and won 63,5% of his tackles.
The criticism is justified
Spahic is suspended by the "Deutscher Fußball-Bund" for 3 months, and is available to play football again in the middle of July.
The reason why he was suspended was for an attack on the stewards after the DFB-Pokal game against Bayern Munich. He wanted to show his friends around the BayArena, but the stewards didn't allow him and the situation escalated suddenly.
After that, his club, Bayer Leverkusen, acted very quickly and canceled his contract. Spahic had to endure a lot of criticism, including from his own club.