Stefan Maierhofer was a late arrival on the professional footballing scene having previously trained as a chef and worked in his parents' restuarant.

After starting his career in Austria with SV Langenrohr, he joined Bayern Munich's reserve team in 2005 and signed a professional contract with the German giants a year later.

He was the top scorer for Bayern's reserves in each of his two seasons with the club - notching 21 in 42 appearances - and made two appearances as a substitute for the first team.

After spells with German second division sides TuS Koblenz and SpVgg Greuther Fürth, he first joined Rapid Vienna on loan in January, 2008, and helped the club to the Austrian league title scoring seven goals in 11 games.

He followed this up with another prolific season with 23 goals in 37 appearances.

Maierhofer clinched a move to Wolves in August, 2009, signing a three year contract, before immediately flying off on international duty with Austria.

And his first action of note as a registered Wolves player saw him score with a header for his country within a minute of their World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands.

He then followed that up with a goal on his Wolves debut, notching a consolation in the 3-1 defeat at Blackburn having come off the bench at half time.

Maierhofer underwent a minor operation for a hernia at the start of 2010 before spending a month on loan at Bristol City.

At the start of the 2010/11 season he departed to spend a season on loan with German Second Division side Duisburg, where he notched 12 goals and helped them reach the final of the DFB Cup, where they lost to Schalke.