Pirlo leaves AC Milan after 10 seasons

May 18, 2011, 17:14 GMT

Rome - International midfielder Andrea Pirlo Wednesday announced his departure from Serie A champions AC Milan, where he played more than 400 games in 10 seasons.

'Our ways part. It was an agreed decision,' the ANSA news agency quoted Pirlo as saying Wednesday outside the club's headquarters in the centre of Milan. 'I thank the club and the fans for their affection.'

The 2006 world champion, who turns 32 on Thursday, is expected to join Juventus, although he said to have had no contacts yet with the Turin club.

Pirlo won two Serie A titles with the Devils - the latest having been secured two weeks before the end of the current season, which the Rossoneri close on Sunday at Udinese.

He also helped his team win two Champions League trophies and was a key element in the Azzurri squad that won a fourth World Cup in Germany in 2006. He played 72 games with Azzurri.

Last weekend he came on in the second half of a 4-1 home win against Cagliari to play his 401st game with the Rossoneri.

Muscular injuries sidelined Pirlo for part of the current season, who also found little room in the tactics of new coach Massimiliano Allegri.

It also appears that his contract weighed on a club that reportedly closed the latest annual balance 70 million euros (100 million dollars) in the red.

Also on Wednesday, veterans Alessandro Nesta, 34, and Filippo Inzaghi, 37, signed for one more season with the Devils, along with Dutchman Mark van Bommel, 34, who arrived in January from Bayern Munich.