Aston Villa notebook: Jhon Duran transfer prediction, £3.6m boost and avoiding damaging repeat

John Townley opens up his Aston Villa notebook to look at the latest news and snippets ahead of the club's Premier League clash at Fulham on Saturday (3pm kick-off)

Aston Villa return to Premier League action this weekend after the October international break as Unai Emery's side take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Saturday's clash is an intriguing one considering Fulham's strong start to the campaign and they come into the match on the back of back-to-back league wins against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. Villa have drawn their last two league games and Emery is hopeful of welcoming a few players back from injury as John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana all missed the stalemate with Manchester United last time out.

Ollie Watkins, Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres, Jhon Duran, Kosta Nedeljkovic and Ian Maatsen all represented their respective nations over the last week, while Morgan Rogers and Jaden Philogene featured for England's Under-21s, but the latter picked up an injury and is a doubt to play against Fulham. Colombia striker Duran continued his fine form from the start of this season by scoring his second goal for the national team in their 4-0 win over Chile in Barranquilla.

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DURAN TRANSFER CHATTER ENDS

It was announced a day after Villa's draw with United that Duran had agreed to a new long-term contract with the club. He is signed up until 2030 and was given a considerable pay rise considering his was one of the lowest earners in Emery's first-team squad.

The 20-year-old courted interest from 40 clubs in the summer, while Chelsea and West Ham came the closest to signing the forward, but a move away from Villa never materialised. He wanted to leave Villa to become the main striker elsewhere, but is now happy working under Emery and following his long-term plan.

Former striker Emile Heskey doesn't think Villa would entertain any offers for him after handing him a new deal.

"Jhon Duran has been sensational this season," Heskey told 10bet. "He’s making an impression every single time he comes onto the pitch. I can’t see him leaving. I can’t see a situation where Aston Villa would entertain offers for him.

"At the end of the day, why would Aston Villa want to sell such a prized asset? He’s only twenty and he’s going to get better and better.

"I don’t think Duran will be going anywhere in January. There were rumours about a departure in the summer. Chelsea were looking at him, West Ham too. I even think Arsenal may have been interested, but he stuck around, and you have to give Unai Emery credit for keeping him hungry and focussed.

"Young players can have their heads turned easily, but Emery has demonstrated to him that the future is bright at Aston Villa, and he can play a big part in that.

"He’s made a massive impact off the bench. He’ll get his chance to start in games because there’s a lot of football for Villa to play between now and the end of the season."

SAHA ON DURAN'S 'CHALLENGE'

Emery has so far resisted the urge to start Duran with Watkins in a league game this season. The duo played together from the off against West Ham and Crystal Palace last term, but their connection on the pitch clearly needed work.

Ex-Premier League striker Louis Saha believes Duran's patience will shortly be rewarded by Emery.

“Jhon Duran will be wanting to play week in week out but he’s such an impact player and Ollie Watkins’ stats are so good and what he offers to the team is so important," Saha told Paddy Power.

“Aston Villa rely on Watkins, and they’ve got a new pairing with Morgan Rogers who has done well. Duran has to find a way to get his chance and prove to the manager that he can bring that impact from the start – that’s his challenge.

“Duran will come good, and he has already improved a lot. Aston Villa are a very compact team, and the players have the technical ability and power to hurt any team – we saw it against Bayern Munich.

“The way Unai Emery has managed to get them playing together is very impressive and a player like Duran will benefit from that because he can see the joy on the players, and he’ll want to be a part of that.”

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PRIZE MONEY INCENTIVE

Duran's winner against Bayern handed the club its second Champions League victory in the new league phase format having also beaten BSC Young Boys in September.

Villa are one of only seven clubs in the Champions League who still have a 100 per cent record after the first two matchweeks. Emery's side will be hoping to make it three wins from three when they entertain Bologna at Villa Park next Tuesday.

Winning Champions League games is also very lucrative, and so far Villa have bagged £3.6m, with each victory earning a side £1.8m in prize money.

To put it into some context in terms of one-off games, the £1.8m is £1.7m more than what they would receive for winning the Carabao Cup final, and just £300,000 short of what Manchester United bagged for lifting the FA Cup at Wembley back in May.

VILLA'S FESTIVE FIXTURES

The broadcast selections for the December and January Premier League fixtures were announced earlier this week and seven of Villa's games across those two months have been rescheduled as a result.

In fact, from the start of November and until the end of January, 10 of Villa's 14 league games will be live on TV. That starts with four live games in five matches from the start of next month as Villa take on Tottenham, Liverpool, Crystal Palace (not live), Chelsea and Brentford.

Villa will play seven games in all competitions until the November international break, and then 10 matches until the end of December after the break. That will increase by one game if Villa beat Palace in the Carabao Cup later this month.

After Villa play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge at the start of December, four of Villa's following six league games are at home against Brentford, Southampton, Manchester City and Brighton. Their longest league trip of the season against Newcastle comes on Boxing Day, but their other league trip in that month is Nottingham Forest.

Emery will have to utilise his whole squad around the festive period and without too many injury issues, Villa have enough depth to continue competing on all fronts. Last season, Villa started the month of December with a solid point at Bournemouth before they beat Arsenal and Manchester City back-to-back.

However, after those two results and a win at Brentford, Villa only won two of their following seven league games. They got over the line at home against Burnley and thrashed Sheffield United away from home having been held by the Blades at home before Christmas.

Across any seven league game period last term, Villa picked up their fewest amount of points from their draw with the Blades until their second defeat to United in February. Emery's side really did struggle from fatigue and a lack of options in that part of the campaign.

CLARET & BLUE CATCH-UP

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