Hamburg express Santa Cruz interest

Paraguayan Roque Santa Cruz

Hamburg want to sign Paraguay forward Roque Santa Cruz, whose contract is up at Manchester City, the German club’s new sporting director Oliver Kreuzer told Bild.

Santa Cruz, 31, spent last season on loan at Spanish side Malaga. He failed to settle at City since his £17.5 million ($27.4 million, 20.6 million-euro) move from Blackburn Rovers in 2009.

“When that kind of player is on the market you have to worry,” said Kreuzer. “Santa Cruz is the kind of player we’re looking for… and on top of that, he’s available (for free), which is also important.”

Hamburg are in the market for a forward as South Korean Son Heung-Min is expected to leave, most likely for Bayer Leverkusen.

Santa Cruz previously spent eight years in Germany with Bayern Munich from 1999 to 2007. He won the Bundesliga five times and the Champions League in 2001.

He moved to Blackburn in 2007 and after two successful seasons in which he netted 23 goals in 57 league games, he moved to mega-rich City.

But the Paraguay forward never managed to hold down a regular first-team place and was loaned back to Blackburn in 2011 before spending two seasons in Andalusia, the first at Real Betis.