Ray Wilkins was fortunate enough to play alongside him for a season upon Donadoni's arrival at the San Siro.
"He was part of a very talented young side during the 1986-1987 season," Wilkins recalls.
"He was quick, had tremendous feet and although individually skilled was a good team player.
"As far as I can tell, you don't get into the Italian national team and stay there unless you're extremely talented."
One would be hard pushed to name a better right midfielder of his time, but Wilkins regards perhaps today's best right midfielder, David Beckham, as a more complete package.
"David has a better final ball, but not unlike him, Roberto had tremendous natural fitness."
Fitness is something Donadoni regards as essential if progress is to be made in the Far East, and it is a quality which he believes the Azzurri have.
"Italy are one of the best teams in this World Cup," he says.
"It's important to have players in good physical condition, but I think that the Italian side will have that after a very tough domestic season.
"Experience is also very important, as is having players that can do something different. I like (Allesandro) Del Piero and (Francesco) Totti for their ability to decide a game.
"My favourite players when I played in the national team were the ones who tried different things, not just the easy pass or the easy solution."
For that read Baggio.
Judging by past results, one magician in the Italian team is not enough.
Now that Italy have two conjurors in Del Piero and Totti, perhaps they can avoid the lottery of penalties.