Nicklas Bendtner signs with Wolfsburg... to wear No 3 shirt in Germany

Nicklas Bendtner has joined Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg to end a nine-year association with English football. The striker, who has scored 24 goals in 58 internationals for Denmark, has signed a three-year deal with an option for a further year at Wolfsburg, who finished fifth in last season's Bundesliga to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League. A free agent since his contract with Arsenal expired this summer, Bendtner also played for Birmingham City and Sunderland as well as spending a season on loan at Serie A side Juventus during their title-winning campaign in 2012-13. The 26-year-old scored 24 goals in 106 appearances for Arsenal during a nine-year stint in England. Bendtner attracted interest from Aston Villa and Eintracht Frankfurt this summer, and has been training on his own and with friends in a bid to keep fit ahead of the new campaign. Bendtner will wear the No 3 shirt at Wolfsburg, and admitted the reason for the low number, saying: ‘My mother chose the number for me.' Wolfsburg boss Dieter Hecking said: 'We want to play a good role in all three competitions this season, and to do this we need players who already know what this kind of challenge is all about.