Mounir El Hamdaoui hoping for involvement

Malaga striker Mounir El Hamdaoui has insisted that he did not attempt to leave the club in January.

The 29-year-old impressed during the early stages of the season, but the Moroccan has struggled with a succession of injuries and loss of form in recent months.

"I never thought about leaving the club, I'm fine here. It's true that I was injured and it's hard to lose weight when you're not playing games. But now I'm fit and I am getting better every day and I hope to help the team," he told reporters at a press conference.

"I had a good talk with [Bernd] Schuster, we spoke about my injury and he told me to be careful and was worried about my weight. We do a check up on my weight every two weeks and it's not an issue I'm worried about.

"I'm still not 100%, it's hard to get fully fit when you haven't played for a while. I need more games and I'm getting back to my best form. The most important thing is that I don't suffer another injury."

El Hamdaoui is currently on loan in Spain from Fiorentina.