Paraguayan heads back to Spain.
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Spanish side Malaga have confirmed that they have signed free agent Roque Santa Cruz on a three year contract, Sky Sports reports.
The 31-year-old spent last season on loan with the Andalusian club where he bagged eight goals in 31 appearances after falling out of favour at Manchester City.
He had largely been thought to be heading to the Bundesliga with the likes of Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke all said to be interested in landing his signature, though last week it became clear that Italian side Bologna led the chase.
However, he has decided to return to Spain with Malaga in a bid to get his career back on track.
A statement on the cub’s official website read: “Malaga and Roque Santa Cruz have reached an agreement for the Paraguayan-born striker to continue with the Blue and Whites.
“Following the end of his previous contract with Manchester City, Santa Cruz has signed with Malaga for the next three years, and will travel to Germany this afternoon with Ignacio Camacho and Bobley Anderson, to join the rest of the first team for pre-season training with coach, Bernd Schuster.”
After with Bayern Munich he moved to Blackburn and then to Manchester City, who he joined in 2009 for a fee in the region of £18 million. During his time at City he struggled to establish himself in the first team and played only a handful of times, instead spending time out on loan at Blackburn, Real Betis and Malaga.