With time, one aspect of Norwich City and Aston Villa deal becomes clearer: View | OneFootball

Emi Buendia became a cult hero among Norwich City fans for his dazzling performances at Carrow Road.

He joined Norwich as a 21-year-old on a four-year deal for £1.5m from Getafe in 2018, and quickly endeared himself to Canaries fans under the guidance of Daniel Farke.

He was integral to Norwich's Championship-winning campaigns in his first and third seasons at the club, and even picked up the Player of the Season awards for his cluband the Championship in 2020/21.

The summer of 2021 saw him join Aston Villafor £33m, with another reported £5m in add-ons, making the deal both a club-record signing for Villa and a club-record sale for Norwich.

Norwich fans would have been understandably upset at losing their star man after just being promoted to the Premier League, with Villa a club with similar ambitions at that point in time, but with time the deal does look to make more sense.

The Canaries signed the Argentine for a small fee from Getafe, and the chance to sell him for a massive profit had to be taken while his stocks were high off the back of an impressive Championship season - they surely can't be begrudged for letting a player go for nearly £10m more than the previous record sale of Ben Godfrey.

Buendia lit up the Championship

Buendia began to repay his modest fee as he settled into life in East Anglia almost instantly in his first season - netting eight goals and grabbing 17 assists in 41 games in all competitions as the Canaries won the Championship title with 94 points.

He quickly became the main talisman of Daniel Farke's side on the right-wing, filling a James Maddison-shaped hole after he had left for Leicester City just weeks after Buendia's arrival.

Norwich struggled to adapt to life back in the top-flight in 2019/20, winning just five games and becoming the joint-sixth worst scoring team on record in the Premier League after only netting 26 goals all season as they finished bottom of the league.

The Argentine also struggled with the step-up, but was still a creative spark for the team as he laid on seven assists in 36 league games.

He was the standout player upon his return to the second-tier, and helped Norwich win the league at a canter with 15 goals and 17 assists in his 39 league games in 2020/21.

Midway through the season, he was linked with a move to Arsenal, but chose to remain at Norwich to help them back into the Premier League.

Before the season was out, he was named as Norwich's and the Championship's Player of the Season and included in the Team of the Season.

Canaries' fans would definitely have wanted to keep Buendia upon promotion, at least for a season before he likely moved onto pastures new, but he instead chose to join Aston Villa and netted Norwich a hefty transfer fee and profit of over £30m.

It would have been understandable for fans to be upset at the club's ambition as they sold their best player ahead of playing in a tougher league, and were eventually relegated that season - but upon reflection, it made sense for all parties involved.

Buendia was allowed to join a bigger club with more ambition, and the money that came in for Norwich allowed them to build a squad for the future.

Josh Sargent, Dimitris Giannoulis, Ben Gibson and Angus Gunn were all signed for an estimated combined €32m that same summer, and three years later, they have all played their part in Norwich's 2023/24 campaign as they finished in the play-off places and now bid to return to the Premier League.

Buendia's mixed time at Villa

When comparing the fortunes of Aston Villa and Norwich since Buendia arrived in the West Midlands, it seems like a wholly successful move for him on the face of things.

He netted four goals and picked up six assists in 35 league games in his first season at Villa Park, and even made his Argentina debut in January 2022 as a late substitute in a 1-0 win over Colombia.

Buendia remained a constant in Steven Gerrard and Unai Emery's sides in the 2022/23 season, with five goals and two assists, as Villa finished seventh and qualified for the Europa Conference League.

His fortunes changed for the worse in August 2023 though, as he sustained an ACL injury just days before the 2023/24 season kicked off and was ruled out for the whole of the campaign.

Norwich may look at his time with the Villans and be quietly grateful that they sold him when they did - he has not been a particularly prolific contributor, and his value will currently be lower than what they sold him for after his injury issues, with just two years currently left on his contract.

Whilst at the player's expense, which is never nice to see, every passing development leaves you thinking Norwich will be happy they cashed in when they did.