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Wolfsburg snap up free agent Bendtner

Nicklas Bendtner scored 45 goals in 171 appearances in 10 years at Arsenal © Getty Images

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Wolfsburg have announced the signing of former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner on a free tree transfer.

Bendtner, 26, was a free agent after being released by the Gunners at the end of last season. The Denmark international moved to London in 2005 but, despite his potential, failed to ever earn a regular first-team place for Arsene Wenger's side and scored just 24 Premier League goals for them.

His time with the Gunners was punctuated by several loan spells, injuries and controversy. In March 2012, while at Sunderland, he was cleared by a court after being charged with damaging parked cars on a night out, while at the European Championship later that same year he was fined £80,000 by UEFA for revealing a sponsor's logo on his underwear when celebrating a goal.

Bendtner's move to Germany ends the 2008-09 Bundesliga champion's search for a new centre-forward.

According to Kicker, he has joined on a performance-based contract that runs until 2017.

Offiziell: Der VfL verpflichtet Nicklas Bendtner! // Official: @bendtnerb52 joins VfL Wolfsburg. #WelcomeBendtner pic.twitter.com/sclwInrNzB

— VfL_Wolfsburg (@VfL_Wolfsburg) August 15, 2014

Wolfsburg, who are hoping to break into the Bundesliga's top four this season, had been linked with a number of attackers during the summer transfer window.

However, Romelu Lukaku opted to leave Chelsea for Everton, Alvaro Morata made the switch from Real Madrid to Juventus, Mario Mandzukic signed for Atletico Madrid from Bayern Munich and Mame Biram Diouf now plays for Stoke after arriving on a free transfer.

"We dared to touch the top shelf," Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking was quoted as saying by Kicker on Thursday, before Bendtner was signed. "It's empty now, we need to look a bit further down now. It gets more difficult."

Wolfsburg CEO Klaus Allofs added in WAZ: "We are not panicking.

"[Bendtner] is still a good player, that's why we considered him. When he is available on a free, there have to be a few question marks.

"That's clear, otherwise he'd be under contract. If the chances are higher than the risks, we don't have a problem to do such a thing.

"If you, just like us, want to achieve something special, you should not always do what is expected of you. Nicklas Bendtner would be the unusual path, which you sometimes have to take."

According to Kicker, Wolfsburg are set to unveil Bendtner during a news conference on Friday afternoon.

Bild, who reported that Bendtner will not earn more than £2.4 million gross, ran the headline: "The risk with the bra striker," referring to the player's recent Instagram photo which showed him wearing nothing apart from a bra over his crotch.

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