Nelson Semedo exclusive interview: Training with Lionel Messi, Conor Coady's Portuguese and adapting to the Premier League

Nelson Semedo knows the question is coming but still finds it difficult to come up with an answer: what was it like training with Lionel Messi?

For three years the Portugal international had a front-row seat for the Messi show at Barcelona, playing on the same flank as one of the greatest footballers in history.

Puffing his cheeks out, and considering his reply for a few seconds before speaking, he says: “Wow. I really don’t have many words that can describe how good he is.

“You know what makes him even more amazing? I never once saw him take a free-kick in training, in all of the time I was there. I swear he never did!

“We always used to practice shooting from distance but Messi never took a free-kick. For him, it was just natural.

“They say practice makes perfect - with him it was no practice and it was still perfect!

“An unbelievable player, you can’t explain it to anyone really. The free-kick against Liverpool [in the Champions League semi-final in May 2019], I was standing right behind him.

“In one of my first games in Barcelona, he got the ball and went past three, four and then five players. Subconsciously I was there on the pitch thinking “how can this guy do this?” He makes good players look bad.”

Semedo is now enjoying a new chapter away from Messi with Wolves, after moving last summer to pursue his dream of playing in the Premier League.

This is his first national newspaper interview since leaving Barcelona, where he won two La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey, also playing regularly in the Champions League.

Shortly after the astonishing 8-2 humiliation by Bayern Munich in last season’s quarter-final, he was one of seven players described as “non-transferable” by Barcelona’s former president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Yet with the club’s financial situation worsening daily, Semedo recalls with pin-sharp clarity the moment it all changed.

“After coming back from holiday, I went to Barcelona with my family and we talked, like normal,” he says.

“They explained they had some economic problems and I was one of the players who could go and give the club some money.

“There were a lot of others in my position. [Luis] Suarez, [Arturo] Vidal and Ivan Rakitić. With this thing now [Covid-19], every club has financial problems.

“Every club is not so strong financially as they don’t have supporters at the stadium. At Barcelona, people weren’t even allowed in the museum.

“In football, everything can happen but I was a little bit surprised that I was allowed to leave. It was a very good decision to join Wolves and I didn’t need to think twice.”

Signed for £27.5 million in September, Semedo’s capture could become a club record £37 million after instalments, though it is understood some of the clauses include Wolves winning the Premier League in order to be triggered.

Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo pushed hard to complete the deal, identifying Semedo as his top target before sanctioning the sale of Matt Doherty to Tottenham.

Semedo admits that the high-speed intensity of the Premier League was an eye-opener at first, as well as the set-up at Wolves.

“It’s a very good experience and a club with good ambitions and players. Honestly, Wolves have surprised me with their organisation, the club structure and how the team is - I already knew the team had good players but it is better than I imagined,” he says.

“It’s easier for me because there are a lot of Portuguese players to help me on the pitch. The English players, like Conor Coady, have also been brilliant and it has helped me to adapt.

“Conor is always trying to talk to me in Portuguese, he knows some words and is actually not that bad! I try to teach him Portuguese back.”

Semedo is now emerging as one of Nuno’s key players, capable of operating at right-back or wing-back.

He is crucial in Nuno’s “new cycle” as the club adapts their style of play to focus more on possession.

“I played against Nuno with Benfica [when Nuno was in charge at Porto] and I knew how he was going to work,” he says.

“He gave me confidence and talked a lot with me. When I had the chance to come here, they were very excited for me to come and that was the key.

“We change the formation a little bit but we always follow the coach and we’re used to his ideas.

“My first goal is close! I’m getting closer and it will come. When I have a possibility to shoot, and I think I’m in a good position, I will always try.”

It has been a difficult season for Wolves, with the injury to Raul Jimenez in November a significant blow, but they will face Manchester City on Tuesday night unbeaten in their last five league games.

There will be some familiar faces for Semedo, after playing with Rúben Dias, Ederson, João Cancelo and Bernardo at Benfica. It is not just title challengers City that have impressed him, though.

“What makes the Premier League so special is that any team who is in the last position can beat first place,” says Semedo.

“You have players who don’t play for bigger teams at the ‘Big Six’ who stand out. [Harvey] Barnes at Leicester is a very good player. I really like Jack Grealish. I also really like [Nathan] Redmond at Southampton.

“This is why in every game you have to play until the last minute or you get a surprise.”

Semedo, 27, is a private, family man who happens to have over three million followers on Instagram, which is even more than Jimenez.

He lives near the Compton training ground with wife Marlene, daughter Luana and son Thiago, and is remarkably humble when you consider his reputation and previous club.

Two weeks ago he politely asked the Wolves media team to postpone this interview as he didn’t feel he was playing well enough. He believes interviews need to be earned.

His only disappointment since moving to England has been the absence of supporters from Molineux. It could be another three months until Semedo plays in front of fans for the first time.

“It is the worst feeling not having them at our matches. I can’t have that connection with them yet, and that’s strange for a new signing.

“These are different times and it’s almost a year now that the world has been like this.

“When I see the fans in the street, or have parcels delivered to my house, they show me they are happy. We have to give the happiness back to them.”