Buendia recalls secret chat with Messi that changed life and nationality

Most people who try to keep Lionel Messi quiet need therapy afterwards, but for Emi Buendia it led to the minute that changed his life.

Before he became Norwich City's conductor of the orchestra and the Championship's player of the season, Buendia was a young pup on the fringes of Getafe's first team in La Liga.

When Messi calls the tune, stopping Barcelona is as rewarding as chasing shadows down a mine shaft, and for Buendia it was no different.

The only time he got anywhere near La Pulga Atomica (the atomic flea) was at half-time when Messi collared him for a brief introduction.

“At first, I could not hear what he said and I was not even sure he was talking to me,” said Buendia, whose 14 goals and 17 assists have fired the Canaries to the brink of their second Championship title in three years.

“I had been playing for Spain's Under-19 national team but I had a chance to play for Argentina's Under-20s and he asked me, 'What do you want to do? Play with Spain or Argentina?'

“We only spoke for less than a minute but my answer was simple: 'Easy! I want to play for Argentina, I want to play in the same team as you!'

“To speak with him in a situation like that was amazing. It was one of the best minutes, and most important minutes, of my life, a great experience for a young footballer.

“Did I make an impression on the pitch that day? It was 6-0 to them, a tough game, and I didn't have too much time on the ball myself because they were amazing in possession, but maybe I did something to impress him.”

The GOAT's brief chat was enough to convince Buendia to commit his allegiance to the country of his birth.

And if he was good enough to catch Messi's eye at 19, heaven knows how Buendia ended up on loan in the long grass of Spain's second division at struggling Cultural Leonesa.

Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber, a man who runs football clubs on common sense snd sound economics rather than starry-eyed fantasy, pulled off the steal of the century by landing a player of such obvious quality for £1.4 million.

Webber took one look at the data, and watched just three minutes of a scout's 20-minute video compilation, before he was reeled in.

Now he can adjust his highwayman's mask and get back to holding up stagecoaches if that's the state of the transfer market.

And for Buendia, still only 24, an international call-up from Argentina is now at the forefront of his ambitions.

“The main aim this year was to get back into the Premier League, so that one has been achieved,” he said.

“Obviously every Argentinian player wants to play for his national team and that would be something special for me.

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“I work every day to try and be better and to earn that chance. I like to score goals, provide assists and to make a difference on the pitch.

“I think you will see a better version of Norwich in the Premier League next time. This team has played together for three years and we have experience of one season in the top division.

“The structure of the club is good and on the pitch we have a special connection. When I have the ball, I know instinctively where Teemu (Pukki) is running in behind and where Maxi (Aarons) is on the right wing.”

After a tap on the shoulder from Messi, why shouldn't Buendia get a call-up from Argentina playing for Norwich?

One man's Cromer beach is another man's Mar del Plata (Buendia's home town) and he shrugged: “Why not? This is a tough league and we are hopefully going to be the champions, so we are close to Premier League level.

“If I keep working, I hope to get this chance. It is my dream.”

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