He struggled to recognize the very same venue where he trained for three seasons, such were the drastic changes the Centro Sportivo Bortolotti underwent ever since Evair first donned the Atalanta crest: despite having the black-and-blue Training Centre become virtually unrecognizable, his fondest memories still came flooding through.

In his three seasons at Atalanta, namely from 1988 to 1991, Evair Aparecido Paulino made 76 appearances and scored 25 goals in the Serie A – with the global tally amounting to 89 caps and 30 nets.

During his stay in Bergamo, not only did Evair drop by at the Centro Bortolotti in Zingonia, but he will be the “12th Man” at the Gewiss Stadium on Saturday, standing by Gasperini’s team as the guest of honour for the home match against Udinese.