Gennaro Gattuso believes Milan – and other Italian teams – need investment to return to the top.
The Rossoneri finished 10th last season, and are currently occupying the same position this season with nine games played.
“To win major trophies like the Champions League you have to have champions in your team,” Gattuso, who won the competition twice with the Diavolo told FIFA’s official website.
Gennaro Gattuso believes Milan – and other Italian teams – need investment to return to the top.
The Rossoneri finished 10th last season, and are currently occupying the same position this season with nine games played.
“To win major trophies like the Champions League you have to have champions in your team,” Gattuso, who won the competition twice with the Diavolo told FIFA’s official website.
“At Milan in those years, we could afford to have the likes of [Alessandro] Costacurta, [Jaap] Stam, Rivaldo, Rui Costa and [Filippo] Inzaghi on the bench.
“We had a squad consisting of 22 to 23 top-level athletes. In order for Milan – and Italian football as a whole – to get back into contention, we have to start investing again.
“We need the economy to recover, new stadiums to be built and big personalities in the mould of [Silvio] Berlusconi, [Massimo] Moratti or [Andrea] Agnelli to make major new investments.”
Gattuso, a famously combative presence in midfield, was also asked if he saw anyone who could emulate him in Serie A today.
“I really like Radja Nainggolan. Although we aren’t that similar, because he’s definitely better than me technically, I consider him to be one of the strongest players in that role.
“He knows how to link up the defensive and attacking phases of the game in a balanced way.”
The 2006 World Cup-winner played with some illustrious names in his career, does anyone in particular stand out?
“I’d have to say Andrea Pirlo,” Gattuso noted.
“I played with him for ten years at Milan, I went through the whole national set-up with him, from youth level to the senior side.
“We must have played more than 500 games together. In the last few years we only needed to look at each other to know what the other was thinking.
“He started out as an attacking playmaker, then [Carlo] Mazzone and later [Carlo] Ancelotti had the foresight to stick him [deeper] in midfield. I think I was important to him; in the same way, he made my own job in midfield that much easier.
“Did I envy him? Honestly, no. From an early age I admired another type of player. The first poster I stuck up in my bedroom was of [former Napoli and Inter midfielder] Salvatore Bagni.
“I liked him because he played without shin pads, with his socks rolled down, and he was a battler in midfield. Bear in mind that I come from a family where my dad was a Milan fan and adored [Gianni] Rivera.
“I think I disappointed him because he had a son who was totally different from Rivera! But personally, I've always liked a combative style