Sale Sharks fly-half Danny Cipriani has agreed to return to former club Wasps from the start of next season.

The 28-year-old joined Wasps as a schoolboy and went on to make 95 appearances for the club before spending a year in Australia and subsequently joining Sale in 2012.

Cipriani was regarded as a future England star when he burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old in 2004, and he is looking forward to returning to the club where he first made his name.

"I'm excited about returning to Wasps next season. For me, it really does feel like coming home. In the professional era, players naturally move clubs more frequently than they used to, but I still feel such a strong connection with Wasps," he told the club's official website.

"It's where I learned my trade, alongside incredible players like Lawrence Dallaglio, Joe Worsley, Alex King, Fraser Waters, Josh Lewsey and Paul Sackey. I have such good memories of that period in my life, I feel much more equipped to handle and deal with the expectation that comes when you put on the black and gold jersey.

"There's something about Wasps which always draws you in. 'Once a Wasp, always a Wasp' is more than just a saying when you've been part of the club. I feel next season will be the right time for a new challenge, at a club which in my heart will always feel like a second home, where I know I will settle quickly. It's brilliant to see how the club has re-built over the past couple of seasons.

"The potential of the squad that Dai [Young] has developed is really exciting and I have been impressed by the ambition Wasps has shown since Derek Richardson took over and stabilised things. I'm really looking forward to playing alongside guys I started my career with, like James Haskell, Joe Simpson, Christian Wade and Elliot Daly, in a squad that loves to play attacking, expansive rugby."

Cipriani, who has 14 caps for England, was part of the Wasps side that won the 2007 Heineken Cup.