It's the end of an era - Andrea Pirlo has announced his retirement.

The Italian maestro will hang up his boots in December when his current contract at New York City FC expires. It will draw the curtains on a remarkable 22 year career that saw spells with Juventus, both Milan clubs and 116 caps for Italy.

He garnered six Scudettos, two Champions League titles and the World Cup during his time in the game and narrowly missed out on the European Championships in both 2000 and 2012.

Pirlo will endure as one of the coolest and suavest stars to play the game with effortless dribbling and passing that saw him Italy's orchestrator in chief across decades.

As much as the 38-year-old continued to perform deep into his thirties, the zenith of his career undoubtedly came with AC Milan.

The Italian played alongside the likes of Cafu, Paolo Maldini, Andriy Shevchenko and Ricardo Kaka during a ten year spell at the San Siro - procuring the European Cup twice.

In Pirlo's final seasons with AC Milan, he shared the midfield with a legend of equal measure - Ronaldinho - after his departure from Barcelona in 2008.

While, by this point, the stagnation of the Rossoneri in Serie A was very much apparent, Ronaldinho and Pirlo remained thoroughly entertaining to watch together.

This was no more apparent than in the 1-0 victory away to Parma in October 2010.

Inter Milan had completely dominated Italian football the year before with Jose Mourinho leading his side to the treble but AC Milan were hungry for revenge, grinding out a crucial away win.

It was Pirlo who settled the affair, too, and in quite incredible fashion.

Check out the phenomenal winning goal below as well as Ronaldinho's perfect reaction, below:

What. A. Goal.

Pirlo wasn't exactly a prolific goalscorer from midfield in his career and that strike was his only goal of the 2010-11 season, but it shows just how lethal his long-range shooting could be.

And Ronaldinho certainly would have been proud of it, gesticulating just how special the goal was with a brilliant reaction.

AC Milan would go onto claim the Scudetto that year with what proves their last league victory.

Pirlo proved that his footballing nous knows no bounds in departing that summer for a Juventus side that romped their way to four consecutive Serie A wins.

You really will be missed, Andrea - legend.

Do you think Andrea Pirlo was the greatest midfielder of his generation? Have your say in the comments section below.