Arrigo Sacchi has tipped Paolo Maldini, Demetrio Albertini and Alessandro Costacurta to form part of the new-look AC Milan, although he says he struggles to imagine the club without Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani.
A preliminary agreement for the sale of the club to Chinese investors was signed on Friday and Berlusconi's 30-year ownership of the Rossoneri -- which brought 28 trophies -- is expected to end before the end of the year.
Galliani, Berlusconi's right-hand man, is also expected to leave when the new owners take charge. They have instead turned to former Inter general manager Marco Fassone to replace the 72-year-old, who has been involved with Berlusconi from the outset.
Sacchi, who won eight trophies as Milan coach between 1987 and 1991, said the pair's departure would mean the end of an era.
"I really, really struggle to imagine Milan without Berlusconi and Galliani," Sacchi told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "They have done something together that will remain in the annals of Italian and world football.
"Silvio has been revolutionary. He changed the guise and ideas of football. He had the courage to make risky decisions and to believe in dreams, which he succeeded in realising. I would say that with him, we witnessed the renaissance of football.
"Like I said, those two together have been the best directors in the history of the world. I used to give Galliani a list of players I wanted and he would always bring me the top one on my list."
Sacchi says it will be hard to replace them and that the new owners must therefore ponder their choices well, while he has a couple of suggestions.
"Milan need to find ambition, pride and passion again, like we had," Sacchi said. "I would tell them to be very careful in picking the right people. Albertini was my vice-president at the [Italian] federation when I was responsible for the Italian youth teams and he's developed a high level of managerial experience.
"Maldini has become a real man and certainly has less experience than Demetrio, but he's extremely intelligent, as is Costacurta. 'Billy' [Costacurta] has built his career on his interpretative capabilities. Intelligence is a fundamental factor for him too. I have a lot of respect for these players, for how they are as people and professionally."