Gennaro Gattuso will leave Milan at the end of the season after 13 years with the club.

The 34-year-old midfielder met for an hour with chief executive Adriano Galliani yesterday and then announced his departure.

Gattuso said he would play on, although he does not yet know where.

“The time has come to go my own way and leave space for others,” said Gattuso.

“It’s only a goodbye, I will do one year somewhere else and then we will see. I don’t know where I will play yet. I don’t have any offers at the moment.”

Gattuso said he wanted to stay but only as a regular starter and he added that he was interested in taking on some other role at Milan.

A couple of months ago he said he would willingly play on for free but Milan have decided the time has come to rejuvenate their squad.

Gattuso’s announcement comes only a day after Alessandro Nesta, 36, said he would leave the club at the season’s end, while striker Filippo Inzaghi, 38, is also leaving.

Gattuso started his career at Perugia in 1995 before moving on to Rangers in Scotland for one year.

He left to join Salernitana and then moved to Milan in 1999, where he has been ever since.

The combative midfielder won two Champions League crowns and two Serie A titles with Milan.