Aston Villa will play in Europe’s premier club competition next season for the first time in over 40 years. It is a remarkable achievement by Unai Emery and his side.
It means they can go into the final match of the Premier League campaign today with no pressure on their shoulders, and this should perhaps give the Spaniard a licence to give a few youngsters a run-out.
One such young talent enjoyed a wonderful cameo against Liverpool at the start of the week and thus, should be unleashed from the start this afternoon – Jhon Duran.
Jhon Duran's impact vs Liverpool
Villa found themselves trailing 3-1 to the Reds with just five minutes of regular time remaining as it looked like Jürgen Klopp was going to win his final away match in charge of the Anfield side.
Duran was brought on for the injured Nicolo Zaniolo with ten minutes to go as Emery sought to add another striker into the mix. It soon turned out to be a wise call by the Spaniard.
Despite playing 11 minutes, he managed to score twice, make two clearances, win one duel, and even make a tackle as Villa secured a 3-3 draw to claim an unlikely point.
He was given a match rating of 9/10 by John Townley for the Birmingham Mail for his stunning cameo performance, and surely it would be worthwhile giving him a start against Crystal Palace this afternoon?
Opponent
Result
Goals scored
Everton
4-0 Villa
1
Crystal Palace
3-1 Villa
1
Manchester City
4-1 Man City
1
Liverpool
3-3 draw
2
The Colombian striker has not enjoyed the best of times this season, starting just twice in the Premier League, but he is a wonderful talent who will keep getting better.
Jhon Duran’s statistics for Aston Villa this season
The 20-year-old, despite his limited opportunities in the starting XI, has scored eight goals from 36 appearances in all competitions this season.
The striker has a 28% goal conversion rate while he scores once every 83 minutes in the Premier League, an excellent strike rate.
Duran has also succeeded with 40% of his attempted dribbles, along with losing possession on average just 2.8 times per game. Unfortunately for him, the form of Ollie Watkins has kept the young South American striker on the bench.
Watkins has certainly been worth every penny of his £130k-per-week wages this season, scoring 27 times in 52 matches for the Villa Park outfit.
Duran, on the other hand, takes home a slightly lower wage than the Englishman, earning £30k-per-week for the club, which is over four times less than the clinical Watkins.
The Colombian might not be at that level just yet, but if Emery can afford him more game time during the 2024/25 campaign, then there is no doubt he will develop into a world-class striker who could make the club a small fortune.
Will this be enough to keep him in the Midlands this summer, however? Or might he be enticed by the offer of regular time on the pitch elsewhere and move away from Villa? Only time will tell.
Aston Villa’s 8/10 “man possessed” was just as heroic as Duran
Unai Emery’s side are within touching distance of a fairytale finish to to the campaign.
ByAngus Sinclair May 14, 2024
