Fabrizio Ravanelli held a trial for Gigio Donnarumma during the 2011-12 campaign and he was thoroughly impressed by the-now PSG star, and he ‘can’t forget’ how he recommended Juventus to acquire his services.

The Old Lady were linked with his signature this summer, only to lose out to Paris Saint-Germain, but it has now been revealed that the shotstopper could well have arrived in Turin much sooner.

Gigio was supposedly on trial with the club just under 10 years ago, but the club turned down the chance to sign him, Ravanelli confirmed.

“I can’t forget about him, he was already amazing. He had the same physical strength as today, but he was 12,” Ravanelli told Tuttosport.

“He was strong, explosive, impressive. It was impossible to score. None of his teammates was able to find the net, so we tried with several shots from the spot, but he was still able to save everything.

“He was different from the others. It’s easy to say so now, but I knew straight away he’d become a top player.”

The youngster wasn’t a part of the Milan setup at this point, as he was a Club Napoli youth, before joining the Rossoneri academy in 2013, where he went onto climb through the ranks into the first-team, as he went onto become the superstar that he is today, highlighted by his Euro 2020 Player of the Tournament award in guiding Italy to triumph.

“It’s a pity because a small investment would have been enough to sign him,” said Ravanelli.

“It’s s shame, he would have been the perfect heir to Gigi Buffon. Now they have Szczesny, who is another great goalkeeper, so I understand the club and Allegri.”

I can’t help but feel disappointed that we didn’t complete a deal to sign him this summer, despite Wojciech Szczesny remaining with the club, as players like Donnarumma certainly don’t come around very often at all.

Patrick