Silvio Berlusconi has been hailed as a revolutionary by Arrigo Sacchi, as the 79-year-old appears to move closer to relinquishing ownership of AC Milan.
It has been reported that a takeover of the San Siro club by Chinese investors is on the brink of being completed, which would end Berlusconi s 30-year spell at the helm.
Former Italy coach Sacchi
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had two spells at Milan under Berlusconi s reign and he has lauded the former Italian prime minister s influence on football.
His introduction into the world of football was like an avalanche hitting a pond, Sacchi, who led Italy to the 1994 World Cup final, told Gazzetta World.
Things were calm at the end of the 1980s, but Silvio was ahead of everyone. I recently ate with Frank Rijkaard and he said he was recently in talks with Marco van Basten. They said Milan were 10 years ahead of everyone and I said they were wrong – we were 20 years ahead.
Berlusconi brought things that were unimaginable to Italian football at that time and he will be missed.
Berlusconi and [vice-president] Adriano Galliani brought Italian football forward. There are people that won t admit that, but some things can t be forgotten.
The goal was to win, be convincing and be entertaining. [Juventus chief executive officer] Giuseppe Marotta confirmed things are different at Juventus as they are missing two verbs: they only care about winning.
Regarding the proposed takeover, Sacchi added: Until I see that it is official I won t believe it. If he does sell the team, it s because he believes it is the right time to leave his creation.
Milan missed out on European football for a third consecutive season after finishing seventh in Serie A in 2015-16, while they were also beaten in the Coppa Italia final by Juventus.
