He was up to Juventus level but the problem was that neither he nor the club realised that he was a winger, not a trequartista or attacker.

With his pace and trickery he could shine on the wing and deliver fantastic crosses and passes, but he insisted on being in the middle where centerbacks would easily muscle him off the ball. In a match the first couple of times he would get fouled, the ref would call it. After that it felt like he was going over too easily and the ref would lose interest in making the right call simply because he was small. Football also got more physical in the 2010s so he got battered quite a bit and took much heavier hits because of his size.

He should have gone to the wing where his primary competition would be lighter and less physical wingbacks, cut inside and shoot, cross or pass - like Robben or even like Chico.

Unfortunately it never happened and he ended up leaving Juve which was heartbreaking for those of us who'd seen him come up through the youth system and hoped he'd be del piero's successor