England International and former Liverpool striker, Daniel Sturridge has been reunited with his dog after the canine went missing from his Los Angeles home.

In a passionate appeal on social media on Tuesday, the footballer had offered a reward of ‘20 or 30 grand’ for whoever returned his dog.

On Wednesday evening in an Instagram video, Sturridge confirmed that the dog named Lucci, a Pomeranian had been found.

He said: “Lucci has officially been brought home. Absolutely delighted. Just want to say a big thank you to everyone on social media for supporting us and raising awareness.”

The footballer said he and some friends went to south Los Angeles on Tuesday night to pick up the dog after a tip-off.

Foster Washington, who goes by his rap name ‘Killa Fame’ had shared photos of the dog on Twitter. He said his nephew had found Lucci near 8800 South Central Avenue in Los Angeles.

“I took my nephew to the store about 9 pm last night. He walked to the store and came back with this gorgeous dog. I was like ‘let’s keep it’ and I put it in my car.

“Then a friend of mine walked past and said ‘this dog is famous, it’s the dog from the news. They’re offering 30,000 dollars for it’.

Mr. Washington then tweeted Sturridge photos of the dog, asking if it was his. The rapper said Sturridge later made contact with him, organized to meet him and arrived with around seven people at 1 am.

Washington later shared photos of himself and the footballer, claiming he never received any reward.

Los Angeles Police say they are investigating the incident but have not confirmed that the dog had been returned or whether any arrests had been so far.