AC Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso has paid tribute to two departing players.

Milan have decided not to offer new contracts to Ignazio Abate and Cristian Zapata.

Gattuso said, “These decisions were made by the club and are to be respected. I was amazed by how well Abate did as a centre-back. He was fantastic in that role, even though it took us a while to convince him to try it.

“Unfortunately, we missed Hakan Calhanoglu's quality this season, as with his ballistic capabilities, he could've scored seven or eight goals."