Jaap Stam: Milan bound?
Stam heading for AC Milan
Former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam will join AC Milan from Lazio in June, according to the player's agent.
Henk van Ginkel has claimed the Holland international has already agreed personal terms with the European champions.
'Jaap has already reached an agreement with Milan, it's all agreed,' Van Ginkel told the Gazzetta dello Sport.
'Juve and Inter Milan were interested but he only wanted to move to Milan.
'Now the two clubs must agree but the difference between what has been asked and what has been offered is minimal.'
Lazio general manager Giuseppe Matteo Masoni said on Tuesday that the club could not afford to allow Stam to reach the end of his contract and leave the club on a free transfer.
'The agreement with the Dutch defender will end on June 30, 2005 and therefore we won't be taken by surprise. In the face of such a sure decision from Stam we have to evaluate the offers that Lazio are receiving for the player,' Masoni said in comments reported by the club's official website.
Stam, who will be 32 in July, joined Lazio from Manchester United in 2001 after losing favour with United manager Alex Ferguson.
He played a key role in United's successful 1998-99 season when they won the treble of the European Cup and the English League and FA Cup. Prior to joining United in 1998 he played for PSV Eindhoven, Willem II Tilburg, Cambuur and PEC ZWolle in his native Netherlands.
Lazio continue to have financial difficulties and recently lost their Serbian midfielder Dejan Stankovic, who was close to the end of his contract, on a cut-price deal to Inter Milan.
'In such a critical moment we would not do well for the club and its shareholders if we keep Stam till the end of his contract, when we would end up without the player and money that his eventual sale would bring to Lazio,' said Masoni.
Inter Milan and Juventus have also been linked with moves for Stam who is expected to play for the Netherlands against the United States in Amsterdam on Wednesday.
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