Stevens is currently serving a two-year ban for failing a drugs test © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Matt Stevens | Brendan Venter

Teams: Bath Rugby | England | Leicester Tigers | Saracens | Wasps

Saracens have announced they will sign England prop Matt Stevens when his drug suspension expires.

The former Bath prop, who is currently serving a two-year drugs ban from the sport, will join the Guinness Premiership club on completion of his suspension in just under 12 months' time. Saracens rugby director Brendan Venter has described the recruitment of Stevens as "a massively significant signing" for the club.

Stevens, 27, resigned from Bath last March and has since put his efforts into running a coffee shop business, along with former England and Bath colleague Lee Mears but has been linked with a playing return with the West Country giants, Wasps and Leicester.

"I am looking forward to launching the next phase of my rugby career at Saracens in January next year, " said Stevens who has been capped 32 times by England and was a member of the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. "I have many great memories and friends in Bath, but there is something special happening at Saracens and I am very eager to be part of it."

Saracens insist they will comply with the terms of Stevens' suspension and as a result he will not train with their squad or be integrated within the club in any way until his ban has expired.

"This is a massively significant signing for the club," commented Venter. "It demonstrates the scale of our ambition, and it also shows that top players recognise Saracens as a well-run club with a bright future. Matt is a world-class prop with his best rugby ahead of him, and I am sure he will flourish in our environment."

Stevens made a tearful confession about his drugs shame in a television interview last year, but always maintained he wanted to return to top-flight rugby. He had tested positive for cocaine following a Heineken Cup game between Bath and Glasgow in December, 2008. and subsequently received the prescribed sanction of a two-year ban that was imposed by a European Rugby Cup judicial committee.

Stevens, who made his England debut against New Zealand in 2004, decided not to appeal the suspension. And he will now link up with Saracens on the first day he is eligible to resume his rugby career - January 19, 2011.

Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths expects Stevens to return to the game with a determination to make up for lost time. Griffiths also believes the signing of Stevens is a coup for the club, and claimed every club in Europe would have taken him.

Griffiths told BBC Radio Five Live he is certain that Stevens will be ready to return, when the time comes. "He's not exactly been lying on the beach. Anyone who knows Matt Stevens or has spent 30 seconds in his presence will know that he's a phenomenally committed young man and he's magnificently talented. I don't think there's a rugby club in Europe who wouldn't like to be announcing tonight that Matt Stevens will be joining them next year.

"There's nothing certain under the sun, but if I was to say anything was certain it's that Matt Stevens will return hungrier, more competitive and even more influential as a front-row forward next year. We've had lots of discussions with Matt and we're keen to move forward. We're very confident that Matt is the type of person, the kind of character, who will not only fit in to the environment we have here but will contribute and enhance it."