The Argentina great came across the 27-year-old during his time at Velez Sarsfield and handed him his first call-up to the national side
As he sealed a £32 million move to Manchester City, Nicolas Otamendi must have looked back to his schooldays and felt immense pride and vindication, having seen all of his hard work and sacrifice pay off.
Despite his obvious talent and natural ability, the Argentine’s journey from Buenos Aires to one of the Premier League’s top sides has not been straightforward.
As a member of the Velez Sarsfield youth system since the age of seven, Otamendi would make a quick journey home after school where his mother would pass him a bag of food. The youngster would then take three modes of transport before finally arriving at his side’s training ground – the trip took an hour and a half.
The very game he loved had forced him into a life of sacrifice, but when he was eventually plucked out of the youth system and stuck into the first team at 20-years-old, he found that the rewards were worth it.
The centre-back knew not to stop there, though, and his continued hard work brought him further recognition, as Diego Maradona recognised his potential after a game against River Plate. While he may not have been able to stop Cristian Villagra from hitting the net, Otamendi shone throughout that clash, coming up against a side which also included Radamel Falcao and Diego Buonanotte.
As Otamendi continued to impress at club level, Maradona could not resist any longer and finally brought him into the Argentina squad – handing him his international debut a year and 10 days after he made his first appearance at club level.
The defender became a regular throughout the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and in the early days of his time with the Albiceleste he had his first major interaction with his coach.
On a flight to one away game, the coaching staff decided a select number of players could sit in the first class section. A shy and nervous Otamendi was one of the lucky few as his name was drawn out of a hat, prompting Maradona to shout out “Look at Otamendi, he just gets a call and he’s already flying in first class.”
The positives have been aplenty for Otamendi throughout his career, but he has had plenty of obstacles to overcome and critics to prove wrong. While his four years at Porto were enough for him to land a €12 million move to Valencia, he had not convinced Alejandro Sabella and was thus left out of the national team for World Cup 2014.
Again, though, Otamendi’s fighting spirit shone through and he used the disappointment of that setback as fuel to prove he was capable of operating at the top level.
His last season at Valencia was incredible and his reputation was boosted even more by a solid showing at the 2015 Copa America in which he played all but one game as they lost out to Chile on penalties in the final.
Otamendi was subsequently linked with Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester United before sealing a move to City, and the Red Devils could rue losing out on the defender to their nearest rivals.
Louis van Gaal's side are in urgent need of a centre-back, but have now missed out on the 27-year-old as well as Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos.
Given Otamendi’s work ethic and thirst for improvement, it’s fair to say we still have not seen the best of a player who has spent his whole life working towards reaching the very top and achieving something great.
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