It seems like a long time ago that Sinisa Mihajlovic gave a debut to a 16-year-old goalkeeper at AC Milan on October 25, 2015.
Now, at just 22, Gianluigi 'Gigio' Donnarumma already seems a veteran.
"I told [Adriano] Galliani during the week that I was going to play him," Mihajlovic said then. "He must have asked me three times if I was joking. But I didn't look at his age, I saw the same thing in Donnarumma's eyes that I saw in [Francesco] Totti's."
Milan's first-choice 'keeper at the time was Spaniard Diego Lopez, who himself recognises how good Gigio was.
"He's the greatest force of nature I've ever seen in goal," Lopez recognised. "He has incredible talent. At 16 he already had an impressive physique and now he's breaking records."
In just six years, the boy from Castellammare di Stabia, Naples, has seen it all. The 196 centimetre kid has won a Supercoppa Italiana, he's had two presidents and he's had seven coaches.
With each of them - Stefano Pioli, Marco Giampaolo, Luigi Riccio, Vincenzo Montella, Gennaro Gattuso, Mihajlovic and Cristian Brocchi - he's been the undisputed No.1.
So, it came as no surprise on February 21 when he became the youngest player to hit 200 Serie A appearances, at just 21 years and 361 days old. He beat even Gianluigi Buffon, who was 24 years and 83 days when he did the same.
Buffon himself recognised in 2017 that Donnarumma was his most likely heir in Italian football.
"Buffon is my idol," Donnarumma responded. "But I'm not afraid to be his heir. But I have to improve a lot to reach his level."
The numbers
Although he still has room for improvement, he has been getting better over the years. He only completes 35 percent of his passes and tends to stay in his box.
Looking at his expected goals conceded, only Bologna's Lukasz Skorupski, Udinese's Juan Musso and Cagliari's Alessio Cragno have better records in Serie A.
He's good at dealing with crosses, and his frame has helped him to catch or clear 81 percent of those faced over the last year.
As well, Donnarumma has become an expert at saving penalties. Last season he stopped five, and he's kept nine clean sheets this term - more than anyone in Serie A, barring one.
"He's 22 and he's No.1," Simon Kjaer said. "He has a chance to become the best of all time. It's a pleasure to play with him."
A traumatic renewal
Donnarumma's contract ends in the summer. His 2017 renewal caused a lot of trouble for him.
His own fans called him a "piece of s***" and he had fake money thrown at him on Italy under-21 duty and was called "Dollarumma".
He still hasn't played in the Champions League, and Iker Casillas tweeted in January expressing his opinion that the Italian should be at a European side capable of challenging now.
For now, Milan have offered Donnarumma seven million euros a year to renew, but Mino Raiola, his agent, is demanding nine million euros.
Europe's elite sides are circling. Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea are all keeping a close eye on what happens with Donnarumma, who could become an incredible bargain this summer.