The 35 year-old Finnish international will bring the curtain down on 10 years with the club, insisting Liverpool are on the brink of winning the title and promising to be back one day as a coach.

Hyypia has turned his back on lucrative contracts offered at Anfield as a player as well as a job on the coaching staff, now his season-long deal has come to a end.

But Hyypia is determined to play on regularly at the highest level possible, and has signed a two-year deal to join German club Bayer Leverkusen.

Hyypia may well get a last start in the Liverpool side against Spurs tomorrow, maybe even as captain, but he will certainly figure in the proceedings.

And he goes with a commitment to one day return to Merseyside.

He said: "I would like to come back to Liverpool one day as a coach, and it was great to hear the manager would like me to return.

"Coaching has always been in my mind, but I have to take my badges first. I have not done that yet because I want to keep playing, and I thought at this stage it would be a burden.

"But at the end of my playing career I will look to take the badges and then see (what happens). I have so many memories of Liverpool, and really would love to return one day.

"I think it will only be after I have finally left that I will be able to sit back and realise what we have done in my 10 years. It is hard to take in now. It is nice to be remembered here."

Hyypia maintains Liverpool are closing on the title after this season's close effort.

He added: "The only thing that bothers me is that I will leave Liverpool without a Premier League medal, that disappoints me as much for the fans. But the club will do it soon.

"This season has shown that we can push any team right to the end. Everything looks very bright for next season, and hopefully the team can move their confidence up another level.

"We have been playing some really good stuff and scored plenty of goals. If they take this form into next season, the title can be won.

"Confidence is always important, and we have certainly shown plenty of that this season. There are a few things to improve, but the title could be just around the corner."

Benitez tried to keep Hyypia on a player-coach contract, and said: "Sami is so important that we talked about him becoming a member of the coaching staff in the future.

"But he thought he could play more and wants to be involved in the first team."

Hyypia's previous outing for Liverpool was a memorable performance in the 4-1 win at Manchester United in March.

But with young defenders Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel ahead of him, the chances of regular first-team matches were slim.

Benitez said: "The fact that we were talking to him about becoming a coach shows how much we think of him, he is a perfect professional.

"We were talking to him about an extension to his contract and the guarantee of becoming a member of the coaching staff. That shows we were really pleased with him and how good he is as a professional."

Hyypia will make his 464th appearance for the club tomorrow, having captained them 100 times. The only medal he has not won with the club is the Premier League.

He has won the Champions League, UEFA Cup, European Super Cup, League Cup and FA Cup in a remarkable career at the club.

He is the only man in the club's history to have scored in 10 successive seasons while playing all his games at centre-half.