VfB Stuttgart have confirmed that they turned down a Bundesliga record bid of €25 million from Bayern Munich for star striker Mario Gomez…

The powerful striker has had sensational back-to-back seasons with Stuttgart and has been linked with clubs all around Europe, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Milan and Roma.

However, a poor Euro 2008 - his first showing on the big stage - cooled much interest from around Europe, but Bayern Munich remained in the hunt to lure yet another striker to the Allianz Arena, where they already have Lucas Podolski, Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose.

Bayern have inisted that they are not yet out of the hunt and will swoop for Super Mario next year. Stuttgart, meanwhile, are satisfied to have maintained their stance.

“We didn’t want any team’s money,” said Stuttgart manager Horst Heldt. “We wanted to keep Germany’s player of the year.”

Ref From Hans Schmidt, Goal.com