Van Basten open to coaching Juve

Former AC Milan forward Marco van Basten says he would have no problem coaching their Serie A rivals Juventus if the opportunity arose.

The retired Netherlands striker, who is set to take charge of Heerenveen at the end of the season, is considered a hero at San Siro because of his exploits with Milan during the late 1980s and the early 1990s.

Nevetheless, Van Basten claims he would not allow Milan’s rivalry with Juve to affect his thinking if the Turin giants offered him a job.

“They’re one of Italy’s big clubs,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“It could be nice to do something in Turin one day.”

Van Basten also said he would love to return to San Siro as coach, and revealed he very nearly realised that dream in 2009.

“When (Carlo) Ancelotti was about to leave there was something,” he said.

“But in that moment, I had problems with my ankle, so it was not the right time for me to go back to the Rossoneri.”

Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani believes the club have found a worthy successor to Van Basten in the form of star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Van Basten does not see too many similarities between himself and the Sweden international, and is not necessarily flattered by the comparison.

“It doesn’t bother me at all to be compared Ibrahimovic, (but) we are still two very different players,” he said.

“He is one who knows how to score goals; he’s very important for the team. He’s bigger and stronger than me; I was a quicker player mentally.”

“But it’s not for me to say if I was a better player. I’ll leave the comparisons to the fans.”

Van Basten, who was capped 58 times by his country, spent eight years at San Siro, scoring 90 goals in 147 Serie A appearances for Milan.