Jhon Duran has been a stand-out and even somewhat surprise performer for Aston Villa this season. The 20-year-old Colombian striker has scored six goals in nine games in all competitions, with all of his strikes coming as a substitute, following a summer of turmoil over his future.
In the Premier League, he’s netted against West Ham, Leicester, Everton, and Wolves, while in the Champions League, he scored the only goal as Villa recorded an historic win over Bayern Munich – thumping in a stunning half-volley from the edge of the area.
Emery missed out on £100m "menace" for Villa, settling for Duran instead
Emery had the chance to sign a player who is now valued at £100m by his current club…
ByRoss KilvingtonOct 5, 2024
Unsurprisingly, Villa boss Unai Emery is over the moon with how well his back-up forward is performing.
“He arrived here two years ago and he is young, his potential is huge,” the Spaniard said of Duran after the win over Bayern, which was a repeat of Villa’s famous European Cup final victory over the German club.
“Sometimes he has been impatient and I need to speak to him as a person and connect to him as a person,” Emery added. “As well as a player to try to let him play, putting him on the field because his talent is there and the capacity to help us.”
Duran pens new contract
In light of Duran’s good form, on Monday, Villa announced that the forward has put pen to paper on a new deal with the club until 2030. While on the face of it, that might seem like good news for Villa fans, Chelsea News reporter Simon Phillips doesn’t agree.
Chelsea had come close to signing Duran, who, according to TEAMtalk, Villa now value at £80 million, in the summer, with a £42 million deal collapsing at the last hurdle. Phillips, however, doesn’t believe the new contract will stop Chelsea coming back in for the player, but rather just give Villa more power at the negotiating table if they do.
Chelsea likely to make another move for Duran in 2025
“Just because a player signs a new contract extension at their club, in this day and age it means very little other than the club who owns said player having much more power in negotiations should they sell,” Phillips wrote for Chelsea News on Monday.
“We have seen various examples of this in recent times where a player agrees to a contract extension with their club after being linked with moves away for months and even getting as far as being in talks with other clubs. Said player then ends up being sold not too long after the new contract was agreed,” he added.
Phillips wrote that he’d be “shocked if it doesn’t contain a release clause,” or “at least some kind of agreement to let him leave the club down the line”, adding that “Chelsea will absolutely still hold an interest in the striker”.