Paolo Maldini rejects plea to reverse his retirement

FORMER AC Milan coach Cesare Maldini believes his son Paolo was right to refuse the Rossoneri's plea to come out of retirement for the rest of the season.

Reports suggest current Milan boss Leonardo and vice-president Adriano Galliani approached Maldini two weeks ago and asked the 41-year-old to help revive their faint scudetto chances, less than a year after he quit football.

Cesare confirmed his son had mulled over the shock offer with him and feels the legendary Milan defender made the right decision in not returning to the pitch.

"Paolo is a big enough lad. For years he has done everything by himself and I have to say that his choices are always right," Cesare told Corriere della Sera.

"Of course he speaks with us but then he is stubborn, he decides. I think he did well. We're not talking about a player who stopped after 20 games. He left football after hundreds and hundreds of matches. His send-off was celebrated in all parts of Europe and the world. They paid homage to him everywhere. Now he's thinking of new things."

The former Milan and Italy captain played 902 games for the Rossoneri in an 25-year career with the Italian giants.

It is not the first time he has been asked to come out of retirement, having turned down the chance to represent Italy again after quitting the international stage in 2002.