The goalkeeper signed for Spurs last summer from Empoli and is now preparing for the Euros with Italy.
He told Cronache di Spogliatoio: "The apprenticeship, I have always said, was necessary for my footballing skills but also for my physical skills which needed to be developed.
"Also from an individual, mental and human point of view. Because when I left I left the youth sector, from a year of Primavera in Udine, objectively I was the first person aware and aware of not being ready to be a professional athlete and I probably didn't even think about it, I tell you the truth, with a great obsession.
"But I wanted to create a different path for myself because it was the right thing to do, even questioning myself a little in minor leagues which however were of great help and inspiration in the formative path of my football life and beyond.
"I would never change it as a path because it was absolutely necessary even if I had the chance to make a big leap forward I would probably have gone back straight away because I was absolutely not ready."
On signing for Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, he also said: "It was certainly his desire to convey something important to you, from the first day he called me.
"I felt it immediately and it was one of the reasons that convinced me without even thinking too much about what his football beliefs wanted to be, but beyond this to the person who you then discover day after day, week after week and who has truly great human depth."