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Aston Villa enigma Jhon Duran - Ronaldo warning, 'love and hate' relationship, transfer truth
Jhon Duran's first three league goals of the season won Aston Villa six points in their first four matches before he bagged in successive Champions League games, including the winner against Bayern Munich - a victory which will live long in the memory.
Currently one of the most explosive strikers in world football, Duran wants to be the main man and play more regularly to prove his talent. But after returning to Bodymoor Heath with a fresh mindset after a summer of uncertainty, the 20-year-old also accepts that he must earn his stripes before starting on a consistent basis.
Duran committed his future to Villa earlier this season after being rewarded for his electric start to the campaign by signing a deal until 2030. He is, however, yet to start a league game this season after only playing from the off three times, once in the Champions League and twice in the Carabao Cup. He scored in all three matches.
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After scoring eight goals in the club's first 14 matches in all competitions, Duran is without a goal in his last five, but he has only played more than 30 minutes in one of those matches; the 1-0 defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League.
Emery, who has started Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers in every Premier League game so far, has been managing Duran's expectations and has promised to progressively hand him more opportunities. The Colombia international is an enigma and has a huge career ahead of him, but Emery has said previously that he wants it all now.
'Everyone wants Duran'
After making headlines for the wrong reasons in the summer, Duran let his football do the talking after an excellent start to the season. He was the subject of interest from a number of clubs in the last transfer window, while Chelsea and West Ham were both close to signing him.
It was no secret that Duran wanted to leave Villa in the summer and had even hoped to land a move to Stamford Bridge at the start of the year in the January window. Villa stood firm on their high valuation, knowing what a talent they have on their hands. A rough diamond, you might say.
The script was written for Duran to come on at the London Stadium and win the game for Villa after he made the Irons gesture on an Instagram live stream in the weeks leading up to the opening weekend of the season. Following the win over Leicester at the King Power Stadium, Villa skipper McGinn admitted he was "pleasantly surprised" with Duran's focus and attitude in training after he returned to Bodymoor Heath at the start of August.
Signed from Chicago Fire in January 2023 in a deal worth £14.75m plus £3.3m in add-ons, Villa's president of football operations Monchi and the club's director of football operations Damian Vidagany believe Duran is one of the most promising strikers around.
"If there is a club which really thinks he can be one of the top strikers in the world, if there is one club and one manager, it is Aston Villa and Unai Emery," Vidagany explained. "There are no fewer than 40 clubs who want Duran - everyone wants Duran. Jhon Duran is a boy of 20 who knows what we know, he has a huge potential. He can be one of the best strikers in the world, period."
Monchi added: "The most important thing for Dami and me is to be aligned with Unai because he is the boss. I worked with him for four years at Sevilla and Dami at Valencia. We need to understand Unai. He is very confident with Jhon Duran. Very confident.
"He thinks in the next years he can become one of the best strikers in the world. He is 100 per cent convinced. But what is the problem? We have also Watkins and Duran wants to play. He thinks he is better than Watkins.
"That is normal because every player thinks he is better than their teammates. To manage Ollie Watkins and Duran is not easy but at the end it is the best for the team. If you have two big strikers it is better than only one. Did Duran want to leave the club? Yes. That is normal because he wants to play. But now we spoke with him yesterday [deadline day] and he is happy. He is training good."
"He is finding Unai is giving him more minutes," Vidagany continued. "The thing with Duran is that it is very difficult in football, all positions are important but the goalkeeper and the striker are the two most important. If you have a great goalkeeper the second goalkeeper can be as good as he can be but it is difficult to change."
Triangle of power at Villa
Alongside Emery, Monchi and Vidagany have also played important roles in Duran's career at Villa so far.
Reflecting on how close he was to leaving in the summer, Duran told Sky Sports: "Yes, I think there were rumours. As a young man, the head goes to other places. But there was always total support from Unai, from Monchi, and above all from Damian.
"The three of them are important pillars in this club. They have achieved many things in a short time, and they have helped me a lot.
"They were very valuable to me because they kept me grounded, they told me things as they have to be said.
"So I think that helps, in a way, the mind, and they ... I don't know, the start of the season was about my mind. Now it's different.
"With experience, we're going to do big things, and we're working for that. Thanks to them, we're here, and I'm happy here."
'Love and hate' relationship
The striker also admitted that he hasn't always seen eye to eye with Emery, but is grateful for the patience the Villa manager has shown him so far.
"There are [moments of] love and hate, sometimes! But no, I feel very grateful to him, very grateful to him and his coaching staff. We've had many problems, but they're normal, I think," Duran said on Sky Sports.
"The truth is, I'm very happy to be here with him, to share the space with him, to learn from his teachings. He wants to teach me all the time. He's protective, sometimes.
"Sometimes it happens, and there are sparks! So we're constantly fighting! But I think it's normal for a young man of my age, and a person like him who already knows a lot, who has already achieved so many things.
"And the truth is, I feel very, very grateful to be in this space, and that he's a person as great in football as he is. To learn more from him every day, and I'm very happy with him here.
"Yes, sometimes we argue. Because he has his point of view, I have mine, and I've never been the one who stays quiet. If I have something to say, no matter who it is, I say it."
Duran and Colombian media
Surprisingly, the media in Colombia haven't given Duran much leeway. Granted, the striker has lessons to learn and some growing up to do on and off the pitch, but journalists and radio stations in Colombia can be quick to scrutinise the youngster, who could be the future star of the national team.
After a defeat to Ecuador early this month, Duran was criticised for his comments in the mixed zone when responding to a Caracol Radio reporter's question. He said: “And why aren’t you a coach? From the outside you can see the spaces and talk a lot. We have to go in and play, to see how things are.”
Following his response, journalist Adolfo Perez remarked: “There’s still time for someone to tell Duran to stop believing he’s Cristiano Ronaldo. If they keep telling him that his attitude inside and outside is fine because it’s rebellion, he’s not going to grow, he’s a long way from being what he’s supposed to be.”
Another reporter, Juan Felipe Cadavid, said: “He needs good advice from those close to him, less pandering and applause for everything he does and more words that help him grow.”
Even Colombian football legend Faustino Asprilla has warned that Duran cannot make a habit of 'throwing tantrums' after his reaction to being substituted in the Champions League win over Bologna on Tuesday.
Asprilla, the former Parma and Newcastle forward who scored 20 goals in 57 appearances for Colombia, watched the game and believes the young forward's reaction isn't something which can be repeated. He also compared Duran to former Rangers forward Alfredo Morelos, who produced regularly during his time in Scotland but often allowed his temper to get the better of him which led to a poor disciplinary record.
“It’s normal for anyone who plays football to get angry when they are substituted, but what’s not normal is the tantrum he is throwing,” Asprilla said, via Sport Witness. “He should be calmer, he scores the goal and then all of a sudden he has this reaction. It’s a very bad thing for the team, for his teammates. He has to understand that there are many more players with the desire to play and who couldn’t do it.
“The coach has to talk to him, say that it can’t happen again, that this doesn’t happen again, neither there at the club nor in the national team,” Asprilla explained. “In Europe it’s the coaches who are in charge of transfers, they are the people who have the decision to choose whether you go or not. If they see him having these tantrums, he’s going to have a lot of difficulty if they want him later on.
“I gave the example of [Alfredo] Morelos, the one who came to Nacional, who did everything he did in Scotland, but in the end had a behaviour that affected him. Durán is very young, he has to learn, that you do not do those things that in the future can harm him. I think his Aston Villa’s teammates have to talk to him, pull his ears, it’s something that can’t happen again, you can’t let that happen. Suddenly, the coach is not going to put him in the next few games.”
More recently, Antena 2, claim Villa could look to offload Duran in the summer if he doesn’t improve his form. They report that those close to the player have said Emery has ‘demanded substantial improvement’ from the promising striker.
