VfB Stuttgart have secured the services of Germany international Mario Gomez as the Bundesliga club confirmed the surprise move on Friday.

The 32 year old striker will join Stuttgart from VfL Wolfsburg with immediate effect as he signed a contract keeping him at the club until 2020.

Gomez started his career in Stuttgart’s youth team, before he went on to play for the senior team where he won the Bundesliga title in 2007.

“I am very happy to be back home where everything began. Particularly over the past few days and in the heated phase, I have felt the desire to return home to Stuttgart ever more. I want to go back to the club where I experienced probably the craziest part of my career, with the unexpected German championship win in 2007. It’s also the club that made me the player I am today,” Gomez told in an official statement released on VfB Stuttgart’s website.

“At the international game against Norway in September, I said how special it was to play in this stadium. I know the expectations are massive and that the situation is very demanding. Now it’s all about survival in the top-flight, having a good second half to the season and additionally for me, it’s also about achieving my goal of playing at the World Cup. I am looking forward to the club, the city, the people, the surroundings and my family. I can hardly wait to get going.”

VfB Sporting Director Michael Reschke said: “Sometimes there are constellations in football which you wouldn’t think possible beforehand. We are delighted to have convinced Mario to make a return to VfB. And Mario is extremely enthusiastic. He is delighted and full of emotion at the prospect of returning to his home-town, which he is highly motivated about. The most important thing though is that, in Mario, we have signed not only a great guy and a figure of identification, but also a top-class goal-scorer. That was decisive!”

Stuttgart’s head coach Hannes Wolf stated: “I am delighted about the signing of Mario Gomez. During our winter preparations, we will do all in our power to get him integrated as quickly as possible. We firmly believe he can help us to have a successful second half to the season and we are very much looking forward to working together with him.”

Gomez, who also played for Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and Beşiktaş, joined Wolfsburg in 2016. VfB Stuttgart hope that his experience and goal scoring talent will help the club in the second half of the 2017/18 Bundesliga season.