Van Bommel leaves Munich, signs for AC Milan

In the end everything went really quickly. Dutch international midfielder Mark van Bommel has left FC Bayern Munich and joined Italian Serie A giants AC Milan for the remainder of the 2010/11 season on a free transfer.

Van Bommel, who until his departure was captain of Bayern Munich, was not happy with his situation at Bayern as the club was unwilling to renew his contract which was set to run out in the summer and his relationship with coach Louis van Gaal had also cooled over the last few months. And with Bayern Munichs signing 23 year old Brazilian midfielder Luis Gustavo for 17 Million Euros van Bommel's long-term replacement had already arrived at the club.

With van Bommel looking to continue his international career for the Netherlands until the 2012 European Championships he wants to continue playing for a top European side until then at least. And as Bayern weren't willing to offer this to him, his agent was looking for alternatives and over the weekend the Milan option came and van Bommel grabbed it with a move to VfL Wolfsburg the most talked about option over the last few weeks, but it never materialised.

The defensive midfielder had joined the Bavarians in summer 2006 from FC Barcelona. He played in his four and a half years 123 times in the Bundesliga and scored 11 goals for Bayern Munich with whom he won two Bundesliga and German Cup titles each.