Emerson and Milan part company

Former Brazil midfielder Emerson has had his contract with AC Milan terminated with immediate effect for personal reasons, the club said on its official website.

The 33-year-old had been a periferal figure in the Milan set-up this season making just three starts and nine substitute appearances in Serie A.

It was a far cry from the dominant impact he had at his previous two Italian clubs where he was a first team regular for AS Roma for four seasons and at Juventus for two more.

But after an at times unsuccessful season in 2006-07 at Real Madrid, to whom he moved after Juventus were relegated and stripped of their previous two titles for match-fixing, Emerson came back to Italy and joined Milan.

However, he could never establish himself in the team and made only 14 league appearances last season and just 11 in this campaign.

He won the title with AS Roma in 2001 and had two more with Juve although both of those were then annulled due to the match-fixing scandal.

His spell at Real Madrid was not a complete failure as he was part of the championship-winning team there as well.

When he left Madrid he ended a seven-year spell working under current England boss Fabio Capello, who signed him at Roma and then moved with him to both Juventus and Real.