Lazio's Dutch international defender Jaap Stam has agreed to join Italian champions AC Milan, the player's agent said.

"At the end of the season Jaap will leave Lazio and he will play for Milan next year," Henk Van Ginkel told the website calciomercato.com.

"We reached an agreement with Milan for a two-year contract only after Milan had agreed a deal with Lazio."

Neither club were immediately available for comment. The move has been widely expected for some months.

Lazio have financial difficulties and said they would be prepared to sell Stam rather than risk him leaving at the end of his contract in 2005 for no transfer fee.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has promised two big name signings for the freshly crowned champions with Stam now set to be the first of those arrivals.

Stam made his name in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven before moving to Manchester United in 1998 where he helped the club win the European Cup a year later.

A strong central defender, who has also operated at right-back for Lazio, Stam moved to the Rome club in August 2001 following a reported dispute with United manager Alex Ferguson.