As the Villa Park phrasing goes, it was very much a case of ‘in Unai’ Aston Villa fans had to ‘trust’ when he convinced their board to spend a whopping £18 million on little known Chicago Fire striker Jhon Duran back in the 2023 January transfer window.
The young Colombian had shown good talent at Envigado and during his spell in the MLS, but that did not necessarily mean he would adapt to the English Premier League game or European football, but he has quite quickly established himself as a handful as a super sub with a keen eye for Goal of the Season nominations.
Back during the summer West Ham United reportedly quibbled over a total £50 million deal for him, and the player seemed to be angling for a move, but Emery stood firm as the 20 year old became a bit of a distraction – and it is fair to say that not letting him move on has worked out in everyone’s interests.
With 58 substitute appearances to his name, he has actually only started 14 matches, but has scored 18 goals in total. This season, 23 appearances (four starts) across all competitions have already returned ten goals and as well as hitting their winner against Bayern Munich back in October, he hit another worldie this midweek as they all but ensured progression through to the next round of the Champions League.
It leaves one simple question for the claret and blue faithful, is it time that he began starting over England international Ollie Watkins?
Factor in Watkins has actually scored three goals fewer than Duran so far this year despite having almost double the minutes. Emery has often spoken about wanting to play them together to utilise their individual strengths, but when that has been tried it has not worked out for the Villans and Emery’s own system prioritises one up front.
You can make a good case for both strikers and their style of play, but there is no denying that Duran is a dyed in the wool, naturally talented goalscorer and his goals just showcase a technique that many other top flight strikers would love to master.
He also clearly knows it, but with a few hiccups behind him as he tried to run with the manager before he could walk Emery’s game plan, it seems he may now be benefitting from a little bit of growing up as following their RB Leipzig win he was focused on the success of the team, enjoying the competition with Watkins and just focused on making an impact when the chances come his way.
A rounded and mentally focused Duran is quite a frightening prospect given the talent he has.