The legendary midfielder’s antics with the Italian club always raised a smile with his teammates, even if he couldn’t persuade them to join in with his antics.

Asked his funniest memory of being in the Lazio squad with Gazza, Karl-Heinz Riedle told FourFourTwo magazine: “There are so many stories. I always say to Thomas Doll and Aron Winter that we could write a book because so many things happened – and I only played with him for one year.

“Once, I was with Thomas and Aron in our hotel room when Gazza knocked on the door.

“He was standing there naked with a six-pack of beer and said, ‘Come on guys, let’s have a beer.’ We were like, ‘No Gazza- there’s a game tomorrow and we won’t drink the day beforehand.’

“Another time, we were on the team but when manager Dino Zoff fell asleep and Gazza went to sit next to him, completely naked.

“Dino could see the funny side of it – he was laughing as well. Dino knew he had to take him like he was. He handled Gazza really well.”

The 59-year-old former striker thinks it is “shame” that Gazza’s off-field antics have overshadowed his skills on the pitch.

He said: “Gazza was a very special person.

“He was funny and could be completely over the top – in everything – when he was in the group, but he was a really nice guy when you had him in a one-on-one situation.

“Some people remember him only for his eccentric behaviour, which is a shame, because he was an incredible player.

“In training, even the Italian guys said, ‘F****** hell what’s this?’ He was going all over the place in training sessions – you couldn’t stop him.

“Gazza was definitely one of the best players I ever played with.”