Hamburg will miss Olic, says Jol

Dubai: Ivica Olic may not have the charisma or the superstar status of a Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi or maybe even a Luca Toni, but he does have one thing in common with some of the world's top marksmen - a prolific strike rate.

Olic's magic for German side Hamburg has taken them to fourth in the Bundesliga, half-way through the season, and just two points behind leaders TSG Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich, who are on top of the table with 35 points. Moreover, his brilliance has also put them in contention for the Uefa Cup.

But the Hamburg fairytale, with Olic as its protagonist, is about to end sometime soon as the Croat has reportedly agreed to a three-year deal with Bundeliga rivals Bayern.

And the man expected to miss him the most, the Hamburg coach Martin Jol, is already planning for a future without the 29-year-old.

Hamburg are in the city and will play Italian giants AC Milan for the Emirates airline and DTCM-sponsored Dubai Football Challenge tomorrow.

"Olic is expected to leave. Hopefully, he will stay for another five months and go to Bayern at the end of the season, but that's going to be a big loss for us anyway," said Jol.

"He's a very, very good player with a great attitude. He creates space, runs the full 90 minutes and that is what we will miss next year. But we've got other players as well, so life goes on and we will find two or three other players who will improve this squad."

And who are they?

"I think Paulo Guerrero is very good. Every time he plays in the team, we seems to play better. He's a very good target man and we've also got Mladen Petric, so we should be covered. We've got three players for two positions [with Olic still there], but Olic gives us something different."

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Jol said Hamburg are very much in line to achieve their objectives for the season.

"We are in with a chance in all tournaments: the Uefa Cup, German Cup and the Bundesliga. Our focus was to get to the next round [of the Uefa Cup] and survive the winter. We are there, but with some great teams in the mix, it will be difficult," he added.

"You feel like your name is on the Cup all the time and it's the dream you've got, but it depends, because you need a bit of luck and that bit of luck can sometimes do everything."

Bayern Munich too are spending their winter break in town. But with Milan also in the mix for the Uefa Cup, Jol feels tomorrow's game is crucial as it will help him assess his side ahead of the second half of the season.

"We will focus on the Milan game for now. Four days is not a long time to train and maybe we could have come here a little longer, but this is a good idea because the weather and other conditions are perfect.

"Germany was too cold and the grounds were very hard, so this was ideal and just what we needed to prepare for the season ahead," said Jol, whose side have renewed their sponsorship deal with Emirates.