Pep Guardiola is the first revolutionary coach since Italian great Arrigo Sacchi, according to Marcello Lippi.
Guardiola is leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season, with reports linking him to Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea after his success in La Liga, the Bundesliga and Champions League.
Sacchi, the former AC Milan and Italy coach, is regarded as one of the greatest ever, and Lippi said Guardiola was the first since then to change the game.
"He has created and coached the best sides in history," Lippi told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Barca, along with winning everything, contributed players that won two Euros and a World Cup. He has added a lot to the history of football.
"He is one of the best coaches in the world today, though someone else is the best."
Lippi insists the man replacing Guardiola at Bayern – Carlo Ancelotti – is still the best coach in the world.
The 67-year-old World Cup winner said coaches had become as important as players.
"The idea that a coach can only influence 20 per cent of proceedings is over with. That was never the case for Jose Mourinho, Fabio Capello, Louis van Gaal, Marcello Lippi and others," Lippi said.
"Great players want strong leaders. They don’t want a father, brother or someone who is sympathetic to them. They want to win and earn better wages."
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