JUST three seasons ago, Sam Surridge was struggling to score in the Premier League.
Surridge lined up for Nottingham Forest, but scored just once in 20 Premier League games.
However, Surridge is now competing head-to-head against arguably the greatest footballer of all time.
Surridge, who stars for Nashville in Major League Soccer, is narrowly ahead of Lionel Messi in the league’s golden boot race.
Even the Slough-born star himself can hardly believe it.
Surridge’s 21 goals for Nashville place him one in front of Messi’s tally of 20.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, the 27-year-old said: “Being in a race with Messi is special for me. It is a bit surreal.”
There are four games of the regular season left for Nashville, while Messi’s Inter Miami have seven after competing in the Club World Cup.
Surridge is not worried about what the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner can do, and is focusing on his own performances in the race.
The former Bournemouth academy star got a close up of Messi’s quality when Nashville faced Inter in July.
That game ended in a 2-1 defeat with Messi netting twice.
Reflecting on that, Surridge said: “They’re winners. They just have that cutting edge.
“There was a free-kick on the edge of the box, and I just knew that Messi was going to score, and he did.
“It was pretty crazy. He can make something out of nothing.”
He continued: “Messi could end up scoring however many goals in a game, and I can’t control that.
“I focus on what I can do. It’s also great that he’s doing well because it’s almost like me against him in a way, but there’s still some others in the race to get the Golden Boot.”
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