Stuttgart brings Germany striker Gomez back home

Mario Gomez began his decorated career at Stuttgart and the former Bayern Munich striker will return to his first club in January.

Gomez has 155 goals in 281 Bundesliga appearances over the course of his career and 87 of those came with Stuttgart before joining Bayern Munich in 2009.

Germany striker Mario Gomez has sealed a return to former club Stuttgart from Bundesliga counterpart Wolfsburg on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

The 32-year-old was a product of the youth system at Stuttgart, where he made his Bundesliga and international breakthroughs more than a decade ago, memorably firing Die Schwaben to the title in 2006-07.

Gomez has 155 goals in 281 Bundesliga appearances over the course of his career and 87 of those came with Stuttgart before joining Bayern Munich in 2009 for a then German top-flight record of €30million.

He went on to play for Fiorentina and Besiktas, with Gomez's form for the Turkish giant earning him a surprise Germany recall for Euro 2016, four years on from his previous competitive appearance for Die Mannschaft.

A return to his homeland with Wolfsburg followed that tournament but, after a successful campaign last time around, Gomez has only managed one Bundesliga goal this term.

He leaves Wolfsburg 12th in the table – two places and as many points above Stuttgart, where Gomez will be in line for a second debut when it hosts Hertha Berlin after the mid-season break.

Hannes Wolf's side is on a five-match losing run in all competitions after being dumped out of the DFB-Pokal in midweek.