Cologne have signed free agent Claudio Pizarro on a contract until the end of the season.
Pizarro, who turns 39 on Tuesday, is a veteran of 430 Bundesliga matches for Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich and had been without a club after his deal at the Weserstadion expired in the summer.
Cologne hope the Peru international -- the Bundesliga's all-time top-scoring foreign player -- can add to his 191 strikes for Bremen and Bayern amid a goal-scoring crisis at the club following Anthony Modeste's €35 million transfer to Tianjin Quanjian earlier this year.
Anybody hungry? #effzeh #PizzaTime pic.twitter.com/BfGAMKANeF
— 1. FC Cologne (@fckoeln_en) September 29, 2017
Having just scored one goal and secured one point from their first six league games, Cologne sit rock bottom in the Bundesliga.
"He is a clinical striker in front of goal with a personality that will be good for our team," the Billy Goats' head coach, Peter Stoger, told the club's official website.
Pizarro, who has previously stated that playing in the 2018 World Cup is his last remaining career goal, said he is delighted to have a joined a "big traditional club" like Cologne.
He added: "I want to help with my qualities and my experience."
Pizarro is the only player in Bundesliga history to score more than 80 goals for two clubs. With 104 strikes in 206 league matches, he is also Bremen's all-time leading scorer.
