Last Updated: Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:26
Swansea City could have a battle on their hands to sign loan star Gylfi Sigurdsson as his parent club Hoffenheim want the player back.
The Swans are desperate to make the Iceland international's stay at the Liberty Stadium more permanent, but his German employers are now ready to give him another chance to prove his worth in the Bundesliga.
Sigurdsson has previously had to make do with a place on the bench at best at Hoffenheim after joining them from Reading for around £6m in August 2010, but his form for Brendan Rodgers' men has prompted a rethink.
Hoffenheim manager Markus Babbel has certainly taken notice of the midfielder's return of six goals in 10 matches, and is ready to dash the Swans hopes of signing a player that Rodgers has compared to Frank Lampard.
Babbel told Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung: "Gylfi is under contract at this club for next season. He will come back and train with us.
"It is difficult for me to jump on a plane and visit him in Swansea due to time restrictions.
"He is playing in a different team and a different competition and you cannot compare the Premier League with the Bundesliga.
"He has already shown during his time here that he is a good passer of the ball and that he can score goals. I am keen to get to know him, and that is why I want him back.
"The fact is that he is under contract here and he will start the new season at this club."
Rodgers will certainly fight hard to secure Sigurdsson even if the final decision is ultimately going to be Hoffenheim, despite the player's own reluctance to go back to Germany.
Whatever happens, the City boss just wants him to keep on playing at the same standards for them between now and the end of the season.
Rodgers told reporters: "He has been a wonderful acquisition, I knew what I was getting and he has delivered brilliantly and hopefully he can continue that until the end of the season.
"He is in the Frank Lampard mould, he gets into the six-yard box, is willing to get his shot off with his left or right foot and can score with his head like he did at Fulham.
"He is a goalscoring midfield player and you don't get too many of those. But he has that instinct, he was born with it and he works very hard on his shooting and finishing.
"He is still very young but he is a player who can do well at this level, as he has shown. He has the same hunger as Frank, who wanted to be better every single day."
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