Former Man City star attracts Bundesliga interest

Roque Santa Cruz has three German sides chasing him after he was released by Manchester City.

The former Blackburn man was one of a number of City's peripheral figures to be allowed to leave the Etihad alongside Wayne Bridge.

The Paraguayan spent last season on loan at Malaga where he scored eight goals in 30 La Liga performances to prove his fitness after long-term battles with knee problems.

The 31-year-old spent the 2011-12 season at Betis where he was in similarly impressive form and his exploits in Spain have no alerted a trio of Bundesliga sides who would have watched Cruz in his prime for Bayern Munich between 1999-2007.

Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke are the sides in the hunt and Hamburg sporting director Oliver Kreuzer said: "Santa Cruz is an interesting player,

"If such a man is on the market, you should take care of it.

"Santa Cruz fits squarely into our requirements. He can play alone up front, hold up the ball and that takes a certain amount of experience."