Cagliari striker David Suazo has moved to AC Milan having previously agreed to join rivals Inter, the European champions said on Tuesday.

"The Honduran striker will wear the shirt of Milan next season," a statement said on Milan's Web site (www.acmilan.com). "The transfer from Cagliari to the Rossoneri went ahead after negotiations during the night."

No financial details of the deal were announced but media said he had cost more than 14 million euros ($19 million).

Cagliari President Massimo Cellino said last Wednesday that Inter had made a great buy in purchasing Suazo although the Italian champions never announced his signature.

The 27-year-old scored 14 league goals last season having developed into one of the most dangerous strikers in Italy.

In the 2005-06 season he scored 22 Serie A goals for Cagliari, breaking the club record of 21 league goals in a season that former Italy international Gigi Riva set in 1970.

At the Italian Football Oscars in January this year, he shared the award for best foreign player in Serie A with AC Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaka.

The transfer is sure to fuel a simmering feud between the two Milan clubs, whose rivalry was intensified by Inter's league title and AC Milan's Champions League triumph last season.

Milan, who struggled for goals early on last season and brought in Ronaldo from Real Madrid in January, had said their main transfer target was Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o.

"It is very probable that Eto'o will not come," Milan vice president Adriano Galliani told the club's Web site.

"There has been no intention to spite Inter. We followed Suazo even last year. Cellino said that negotiations with Inter were over therefore we started and concluded new talks."

(China Daily via Reuters June 20, 2007)