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Paolo Maldini has told the Planet Futbol podcast it is going to take a lot of time and money to make his former club AC Milan great again, but he would "be delighted" if he were given the opportunity to help them. Maldini spent his entire playing career with the Rossoneri, making almost 650 appearances and won seven Serie A titles and five European Cups, but the club have struggled since his retirement in 2009 and he envisages a long way back. "It's going to be hard -- they've not won anything for five years, apart from last December's Supercoppa, and they have not qualified for Europe for three years," Maldini said. "President [Silvio] Berlusconi is trying to sell Milan, but a lot of things are a mystery, like how much money is going to have to be invested to relaunch the club. They are going to need a lot of money to get back to where they were 10 years ago." Since his retirement Maldini has become estranged from the club and does not expect to be contacted about helping out, although he would welcome the chance. "I have Milan in my heart," he said. "My father was captain of Milan, I was born in Milan and my children all played in the youth academy. I love Milan and if I were to have the chance to return there in future, I'd be delighted." However, he said a return could prove difficult as he suggested he is "regarded as a problem there." Maldini is impressed by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma but said the 18-year-old must protect himself from speculation about his future and concentrate on his playing career. "He's got great talent," Maldini said of the goalkeeper who made his first start for Italy in Tuesday night's 2-1 friendly win over Netherlands. "We knew he had something unique about him when he joined Milan's youth academy. Only people who don't understand football could not see Gigio [Donnarumma]'s qualities. "After [Gianluigi] Buffon, who made his Serie A debut against Milan, I've only seen the same values and qualities in Donnarumma. Despite being very tall, he's very quick and a great lad. Now people are talking a lot about him and he needs to succeed in isolating himself from the rumours and focusing on doing well on the field."
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