Jaap Stam today completed his £16.5 million sterling move to Lazio after falling foul of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
Stam's autobiography and a loss of form combined to close the final chapter on his Old Trafford career.
Stam, who found himself out of favour with Ferguson and not even on the bench for United's last two games, was offered a new start by Lazio who approached United at last week's Champions League draw in Monaco.
The Dutch defender, who admitted he did not think he had been sold for footballing reasons, signed a four-year contract at the Olympic Stadium.
Stam will not miss out on the Champions League as his new club made it into Europe's top club competition with a final qualifying round victory over Danish side FC Copenhagen last week.
Asked if he thought United had made a mistake in selling him, Stam said: "It is hard to say if it is a mistake. It was their choice. They made that choice. The obvious thing then is to go. It was an easy choice after that".
"Sometimes it is the time to move on. We have made a choice now to move to Italy. Hopefully we can enjoy our life and football over here now".
- PA