Stam is off after getting red card

In Holland, it is known as gezellig. It means to live in a tolerant, relaxed atmosphere. But, as Jaap Stam begins his new life with Lazio, the Dutch defender will reflect that he may have forfeited his right for gezellig at Manchester United the day he went against Alex Ferguson.

Stam was in Rome last night after finalising a £16.35 million sterling transfer to the Stadio Olimpico that is likely to precipitate Laurent Blanc, the 35-year-old French international, signing for United from Internazionale this week.

An extraordinary weekend for the champions will culminate in Blanc entering talks with the club's hierarchy this morning, while Stam prepares to be unveiled at a news conference at Lazio's Formello training ground.

"All I can say is that I did not want to leave," he said last night. "This is as much a shock to me as to anyone. I'm completely taken aback because I was settled at United and I signed a new five-year contract earlier this year.

"I was even having a new kitchen fitted at my home. But now I must look to the future. When a club agrees to sell you it is clear that it may be time to move on."

Officially, the word from Ferguson was that Stam's departure, one of the most remarkable transfers of recent years, had nothing to do with the publication of his recent autobiography. "You can trust me on that one," he said.

"It is a football decision." He added: "It's nothing to do with any of this nonsense that you've read about. I can assure you. I've said that to Jaap. I would never let a thing like that fudge an issue or cloud my decision."

However, to anyone outside the club, it will be seen as a remarkable coincidence that Ferguson, in his final year as manager, is willing to jettison a player who had previously been the mainstay of his defence.

"Maybe it is time for us to change," said Ferguson. "It was my decision. I've explained to Jaap that, after everything he's done for us, I wouldn't want to see him on our bench. It was never an easy decision to make but I have given it a lot of thought. It's something I think is worthwhile."

Whatever Ferguson's motives, it will be construed as a significant gamble, particularly with the opening phases of the Champions League just over a fortnight away.

Several attempts to sign Blanc have failed during the past 18 months, mostly because of his reluctance to leave Serie A, but Ferguson is confident of getting his man before Friday's Champions League transfer deadline.

It is conceivable, however, that it may be only a temporary measure before a younger model is ushered in. Negotiations have taken place about an end-of-season deal for Kevin Hofland, the PSV Eindhoven centre half who partnered Stam for Holland against England, and if Ferguson is feeling really adventurous he may approach Parma for the unsettled Italian international Fabio Cannavaro. "The type of money that Lazio are paying means it is a good opportunity to bring in someone else and alter the back four," he added.

Despite Ferguson's refusal to discuss Stam's autobiography, the bewildering speed with which the 29-year-old has been torpedoed leaves more questions than answers. The autobiography contains a number of minor disclosures, most notably that Ferguson "tapped up" Stam before signing him from PSV for £10.75 million in 1998. The defender also criticises several of his Old Trafford team-mates.

However, the biggest revelation was that an angry Ferguson, by his own admission, had no idea Stam was releasing a book - something that had been widely known throughout the media for the past six months. The manager's ire alerted Lazio and the Italians moved in after Stam was dropped for United's 2-2 draw at Blackburn last Wednesday.

Sergio Cragnotti, the Lazio chairman, initiated talks with United's chief executive Peter Kenyon at the Champions League draw in Monaco last week and, after agreeing the fee, a delegation from Rome met Stam in Amsterdam yesterday to agree a deal worth an annual salary of £2.3 million.