Youri Tielemans reveals Aston Villa dressing room attitude to 'handful' Jhon Duran's antics
Youri Tielemans admits Jhon Duran can be quite the 'handful' - but ultimately says he and his Aston Villa team-mates see the funny side whilst manager Unai Emery simply 'doesn't care'.
The 20-year-old netted his seventh goal of the campaign on Tuesday night, providing the cushion Villa needed to comfortably see out victory against Bologna. As a result, they top the initial Champions League standings as the only side so far with a 100 percent record after three matches.
But it was the striker's reaction to being substituted for Ollie Watkins immediately after scoring that drew most attention. Duran was shouting, gesticulating and kicking seats in the dugout after only his second start of the campaign was brought to a premature end by Emery.
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After the final whistle Youri Tielemans was asked by TNT Sports' Laura Woods about his team-mate's character. The presenter said she had heard on 'very good authority' that Duran is 'a handful off the pitch'.
"Yeah, he can be. I think he's really funny inside," said the midfielder, laughing as he witnessed replays of the Colombian's fury for the first time. "I think sometimes he plays a bit with it as well, but listen, he's first class.
"The manager doesn't care," Tielemans added, even suggesting that Emery is in fact pleased to see such hunger from his squad players. "He knows everyone wants to play and it's part of the game."
The Belgian, who also thanked pundit Rio Ferdinand for acknowledging he had gone to "another level" this season, also provided testament of what it is like to play behind Duran.
"He is more of a target striker, but he's got everything. He's got technique, he can hold the ball, he can flick on in the air. He's really good - he's an all-round striker.
"He's really young, still got to improve a lot in his game. You can see sometimes you've got to switch him on a bit more and that's what we demand of him, but he's doing really well."