Joe Pigott has signed a one-year deal at Maidstone after leaving Cambridge.

Pigott was a huge success after joining his hometown club on loan in January, scoring six goals as Jay Saunders' side pulled clear of trouble in the National League.

He had offers from Football League clubs but wanted to sign for Maidstone.

Pigott, 23, said: "Once I knew Jay was interested, that was pretty much it for me.

"Knowing how we finished the season, we've got a chance of doing really well next season.

"I've had a couple of offers to go back in the league but, to me, they weren't as appealing as signing for my hometown club.

"When I came in on loan I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I did and I had no idea how well we would do.

"We were second-bottom when I joined and in the end we should have had a top-10 finish.

"There's a lot of people out there who want to play for this club and thankfully I'll be back.

"I want to play in the league again but this isn't a step backwards. You can't think about it like that.

"I took that step when I signed on loan but hopefully we can do really well and I'll get many games under my belt and keep improving.

"Hopefully the fans will be pleased. Anything's possible after the run we went on last season. We're building a good team. These are exciting times."