West Ham midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger admits he would have preferred to have stayed at Stuttgart

Thomas Hitzlsperger of West Ham(Getty Images)

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Following a six-month injury lay-off, Thomas Hitzlsperger has enjoyed an impressive start to his career at West Ham.

Speaking to German publication 11 Freunde, however, he revealed that he would have preferred to remain at his former club Stuttgart.

The 28-year-old was a key figure at the club between 2005 and 2009, but fell out of favour at the Bundesliga side and moved to Lazio in January 2010. There he struggled to make an impact, and in June he was transferred to West Ham.

When asked whether it was a mistake for Stuttgart to let him go, the midfielder replied: “I’m not the one to answer that. I would have preferred to remain longer at VfB. But that did not only depend on me, so then came the separation.”

After a long injury absence initially prevented his participation, Hitzlsperger scored a stunning goal against Burnley and recorded an assist in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Liverpool in the Premier League.