The agent of Mauro Zarate, the Birmingham City striker, has hinted the Argentinian could remain on loan at the club for another season. Zarate joined from Qatar side Al-Sadd in January and has started to make an impact with three goals in the last two games.

Al-Sadd are willing to sell Zarate if they can get a transfer fee in excess of the £10 million they paid Velez Sarsfield for him last summer. The fee may be out of City's price range, but Christian Otero, Zarate's agent, believes a loan extension is a possibility.

"They [Al-Sadd] want more than they paid for Mauro but another loan deal might be possible," Otero said. "It is not easy but Birmingham have priority as they have given him a chance and he is comfortable with the Birmingham manager, Alex McLeish. We haven't set any date for any talks yet, but I hope we can reach an agreement and speak soon. Mauro has captured the attention of other clubs as people can see he will be a top, top player."

Meanwhile, James McFadden and Olivier Kapo look like losing their battle to be fit for Saturday's Premier League match at Wigan Athletic. Kapo has only recently returned to training after a month out with a hamstring injury, while McFadden is recovering after keyhole knee surgery.

Roy Aitken, Birmingham's assistant coach, said he didn't want to rush the two players back. "Both of the injuries are moving in the right direction but we don't want to put a deadline on them," he said. "This weekend is probably a game too early for James. Olivier is making good progress but again this weekend may be a bit too early. We are hoping both players will be available for the game after that against Everton."