Argentinian midfielder/winger Emi Buendia became Norwich's first signing of the 2018 summer transfer window when he joined from Spanish side Getafe on 8th June 2018

His playing career began as a youth with Cadetes de San Martin in his hometown of Mar Del Plata near Buenes Aires in Argentina. He moved to Spain and was part of Real Madrid's youth set-up for a year before moving to Getafe, based in Madrid's outskirts. He broke through to their B team, making his debut in March 2014. The following season saw him make 34 appearances for Getafe B.

His La Liga debut for Getafe came in February 2015 and he went on to make 35 appearances for Getafe, scoring three goals. He spent the 2017/18 season on loan to second tier side Cultural y Deportivo Leonesa where he scored six goals in 40 games and was their Player of the Season but could not prevent them being relegated.

He was capped by Spain at Under-19 level (3 caps) and by Argentina at Under-20 (3 caps)

Norwich manager Daniel Farke said "We are very happy with the signing because Emi is the perfect fit for our squad. We’ve followed him for several months and we were always desperate to sign him. There was lots of interest in him. We wanted a guy who can score and assist and he did this last season. He’s a technical player, full of creativity and he has lots of potential.”

Buendia made his Norwich debut on 22nd August 2018 as substitute in the 2-0 home win against Preston. He scored his first Norwich goal in the 1-0 win over Brentford at Carrow Road on 27th October 2018.

Buendia ended the 2018/19 season with 41 appearances and 8 goals as Norwich won the Championship title.

On 15th April 2020 the Daily Star reported that Buendia could be returning to Spain with Athletico Madrid interested.

On 13th July 2020, with Norwich relegated to the Championship, Buendia was linked with Valencia and Athletico Madrid according to Sky Sports. At the beginning of August 2020, he was heavily linked with a £25m move to newly promoted Leeds United.by both the Daily Mail and the Daily Express. Buendia made 39 appearances during 2019/20 scoring once.

On 30th September 2020 reports in Turkey claimed that Fenerbahce were keen to sign Buendia. Turkish television station TRT Spor are reporting that Fenerbahce have begun attempts to sign the 23-year-old former Real Madrid trainee - with a potential initial loan deal in mind. The same outlet however also report that Spanish side Villarreal are interested in a permanent deal. However there are doubts that Fenerbahce would have the finances to sign Buendia with City looking for at least £21m.

On 1st December 2020 it was reported that Buendia was on Arsenal's transfer short-list for the January 2021 transfer window. This speculation continued into January 2021 with most major news outlets reporting Arsenal's interest but that City had valued him at £40m He had scored six goals and provided seven assists by 14th January 2021 and was named as the PFA Player of the Month for December 2020.

On 8th April 2021 the Eastern Daily Press reported that three Spanish sides had been linked with Buendia. One of those is current La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone's side have been linked with Buendia previously, but are set to revive their interest in the hope of constructing a 'world-class trident' with the Argentine operating behind Luis Suarez and Joao Felix. Simeone is said to want to add further creativity into his squad this summer, with the 24-year-old being lined up as the final piece of the jigsaw. Spanish outlet Fichajes Net are reporting that Sevilla and Villareal are also interested in bringing Buendia back to Spain this summer.

On 29th April 2021 he was named as the winner of the Barry Butler Trophy for Norwich's Player of the Season. The same day he was awarded the EFL Championship Player of the Season award and was included in the EFL Championship Team of the Season. He made 41 appearances during 2020/21 scoring 15 goals as Norwich won the Championship title.

On 16th May 2021 he was called up to the Argentina squad for the first time for two World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia.

Buendia became Norwich's record sale when he joined Aston Villa on 10th June 2021 for £33million before add-ons which could take the final figure to £38million.

Buendia was one of four Argentine players who caused a public health scandal on 5th September 2021 when they arrived in Brazil from the UK and had not quarantined. Brazilian health official took to the pitch for the Brazil vs Argentina clash forcing the game to be abandoned. Brazil's federal police said they had opened a formal inquiry into the actions of the Argentine players accused of breaching the country's quarantine rules. Brazil's quarantine rules state that visitors who have been in the UK in the 14 days before entering the country must quarantine for 14 days on arrival."We can confirm an investigation has begun into the possible crime of supplying false information," said a spokesperson."Yesterday, the players were notified they must leave the country, which is the regular procedure, and statements from them were taken." The Argentine Football Association said on Monday that all four players were returning to their clubs, but because of UK quarantine rules, they will miss their Premier League games this weekend. The other players were Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa, and Giovani lo Celso and Cristian Romero of Tottenham. Martinez, Lo Celso and Romero all started the game in Sao Paulo.

In October 2021 he was named in World Soccer's Top 500 most important players in the world.