Unai Emery masterstroke has unlocked huge Aston Villa transfer reward

Jhon Duran scored his latest winning goal for Aston Villa against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday night

Jhon Duran has all the talent in the world, but Unai Emery's guidance and support mustn't be underplayed in the striker's rapid rise at Aston Villa.

The 20-year-old has only started three Premier League games since joining Villa in January 2022 from Chicago Fire, yet he is regarded as one of the most exciting young number nines in Europe. Duran wants to play every minute and be the main man at Villa, but knowing his time will come, Emery has pulled off a man management masterclass to keep the striker's feet on the ground.

It's no secret that Duran wanted to leave Villa at the start of the year and in the summer to pursue a fresh challenge given that Watkins is going to start every game for Villa if otherwise unavailable. Chelsea and West Ham were both interested in Duran in the last two transfer windows and there was a chance that the forward could have left, but that was never what Villa would have wanted.

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The club has been hamstrung with the Premier League and UEFA's financial rules, meaning they had to raise funds through player sales last term. Chelsea had broadly agreed a deal for Duran in the summer which would have seen Conor Gallagher head to Villa, but a move never materialised in the end.

West Ham then bid a decent amount of money for Duran later in the window, but Villa stood firm on their valuation and are now seeing the rewards of that transfer decision. Keen on the move, Duran made the Irons gesture on an Instagram live which was the last straw for many supporters.

The club felt that he had disrespected his teammates and fans with the gesture, but Emery knew exactly what to do next. Instead of punishing Duran by leaving him out of his squad after one mistake too many, he allowed him to apologise on the pitch and let his football do the talking.

"I was quite hard on Jhon last season after one of the games in an interview, just about his attitude and how he can improve that, but in all fairness I’ve been pleasantly surprised," John McGinn said after the start of the season in August. "I think the coaching staff and players have been pleasantly surprised too about how he has handled it all.

"He’s trained really well. He has all the attributes to be a world class striker and we’re seeing glimpses of it now. It’s credit to him for being focused. If you come and watch training now, he’s focused and he’s sharp and ready to go. Hopefully, we can see more of that and it’s up to us, as players, to make sure he keeps going in the same vein.

"Maybe the penny has dropped for him, He’ll get his opportunities, chances and his goals and even his attitude off the pitch. The way he is around people, around the staff – it has improved a lot – and it’s great to see. We don’t want to see him lose his character, his sense of fun – we don’t want him to lose that – but it’s about doing it at the right times and hopefully he’s found that."

Of the 14 goals Duran has scored for Villa, 10 have come as a substitute. He is proving to be the ultimate super-sub having scored the winners against Everton, West Ham and now Bayern Munich this season.

Unsurprisingly, no player in Europe's top-five leagues has scored as many goals from the bench in 2024/25. In fact, of players with nine or more Premier League goals since 2010/11, only Erling Haaland boasts a better minutes per goal ratio than Duran, who is currently ahead of legends like Sergio Aguero, Robin Van Persie and Luis Suarez.

This season, the Colombia international has netted four goals in his last four Premier League appearances at Villa Park, averaging a goal every 43 minutes in the competition, which is the second-best ratio by a player at a single venue (250+ minutes played there), behind Suarez at Carrow Road.

"Jhon has been on fire," Emi Martinez said after the win over Bayern. "He came back with a different mentality this season. He's willing to work hard. He's pushing Ollie all the way. They can play together. He's a super sub! One of the first touches he lobs Neuer, one of the best goalkeepers in history. We know he plays high, and Duran had that in his mind."

Emery's man management skills were questioned after his exits from Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, but at Villa he has not only once again proven why he is one of the best tacticians in the world, but also his ability to manage his squad on a human level.

He could have quite easily permitted Villa to sell Duran and not one fan would have questioned him considering Duran's antics over the summer. All of Emery's experience has been vital to helping nurture Duran on and off the pitch to a point where he appears destined to reach the top in the years to come.

"He arrived here two years ago and the first six months were not easy for him, but progressively he has played more," Emery said of Duran earlier this season. "He had a difficult injury in pre-season last year and he started playing at the beginning of September or the end of August. Progressively he got better and, of course, to compete with Watkins is difficult but he had moments to play and his impact last year was sometimes like now he is doing.

"His talent is there and he is now playing more and with confidence. He is respecting his teammates. There is still work to do, but the process he is doing. He is close to being in the starting XI and he has to understand as well how he can play with Ollie Watkins, both in the starting XI, but also sometimes alone in different competitions.

"I am very happy with how he has started the season and how he started the first training session we did with him in the summer. He was very focused to stay here. He has the commitment we need from every player. It is good news to watch him playing, adding more minutes as well. Every minute he is playing with us he is helping us.

"The process he is doing, he is very motivated and excited with us. We have a very good player and his commitment is increasing, getting better. After a difficult summer, he is 100 per cent focusing here and the supporters are happy with him. Everything now is going, and hopefully for a long time, like we want."

You could argue Duran has been a breakout star in the Premier League this season considering the impact he has had so far, but none of this comes as a surprise to Emery or the footballing staff at Bodymoor Heath. They see first hand what he gets up to in training every day.

Signed from Chicago Fire in January 2023 in a deal worth £14.75m plus £3.3m in add-ons, Villa's president of football operations Monchi and the club's director of football operations Damian Vidagany believe Duran is one of the most promising strikers around.

"If there is a club which really thinks he can be one of the top strikers in the world, if there is one club and one manager, it is Aston Villa and Unai Emery," Vidagany explained last month. "There are no fewer than 40 clubs who want Duran - everyone wants Duran.

"Jhon Duran is a boy of 20 who knows what we know, he has a huge potential. He can be one of the best strikers in the world, period."

Monchi added: "The most important thing for Dami and me is to be aligned with Unai because he is the boss. I worked with him for four years at Sevilla and Dami at Valencia. We need to understand Unai. He is very confident with Jhon Duran. Very confident.

"He thinks in the next years he can become one of the best strikers in the world. He is 100 per cent convinced. But what is the problem? We have also Watkins and Duran wants to play. He thinks he is better than Watkins.

"That is normal because every player thinks he is better than their teammates. To manage Ollie Watkins and Duran is not easy but at the end it is the best for the team. If you have two big strikers it is better than only one.

"Did Duran want to leave the club? Yes. That is normal because he wants to play. But now we spoke with him yesterday [deadline day] and he is happy. He is training good."

"He is finding Unai is giving him more minutes," Vidagany continued. "The thing with Duran is that it is very difficult in football, all positions are important but the goalkeeper and the striker are the two most important. If you have a great goalkeeper the second goalkeeper can be as good as he can be but it is difficult to change."

What have you made of Duran's season so far? Have your say HERE

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