Unai Emery reveals Aston Villa transfer hope over two players and explains wish
Unai Emery can't guarantee Aston Villa will be able to keep both Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran in their squad in the long-term, but admits it's a "privilege" to coach them.
There's a strong argument to suggest no other club in the league has two better centre-forwards in their ranks than Villa, who counted on Watkins' excellent output last season and Duran's involvements this term. Watkins scored 19 goals last season and recorded 13 assists - more than any other player - while Duran has bagged 12 goals in all competitions despite only starting seven times.
Speculation about Duran's future has been rife since the opening of the winter window, with Paris Saint-Germain one of many clubs interested in the Colombia international. Despite that, Duran signed a new long-term contract back in October and Emery hopes to continue exploiting his potential.
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"Hopefully, we can be together with Ollie and Jhon here for the next 10 years - or maybe 12 - or 15," Emery said. "It will be fantastic! Now, players are extending their careers, and maybe Ollie, with his physical capacity, can play until he is 40 years old.
"Pepe Reina, he was at Aston Villa, yes? He’s 42 and playing in Italy. I’m happy with both strikers, and it’s a privilege for me to train them. Every Aston Villa supporter should be proud of how we can have strikers like Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran.
"One is the reality, and performing always very good, and progressively getting better - that’s Ollie. And the other is Jhon who is 21 and we can exploit his potential here. Of course, I don’t know if we are going to keep them here for a long time but hopefully we will."
Duran missed Villa's last three matches through suspension after being sent off in the defeat at Newcastle United due to violent conduct. He will return to the squad to face Everton on Wednesday as Villa go in search of their first away league win since October.
"We need players like him being available to play," Emery said. "We played three matches and we drew against Brighton and beat West Ham and Leicester. We got good results, more or less, but we needed him because his progression has been fantastic.
"When both strikers were available, they helped us a lot. Each one had qualities and the capacity to play together or at different moments, one off each other. It’s very good news for us that Jhon Duran is back.
"We can play with Watkins, with Duran with both. Of course, he was out for two weeks, not playing. He’s training normally and he’s in the squad. Hopefully we can get his performances back quickly like before he had the red card."
