This past summer, it looked like Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran had one foot out the door at Villa Park, as West Ham and other notable clubs around European football were angling to sign the Colombian, viewed as one of the highest-upside striker prospects on the planet.
It got to the point where some frustrated fans wanted Villa to part ways with Duran for a fee somewhere north of 50 million euros, as West Ham, for example, were highly interest in making Duran the centerpiece of their new attacking project.
Instead, Unai Emery buckled down and stood firm on his desire to avoid selling Duran at anything other than an astronomical, totally unreasonable figure, because he saw the potential in the No. 9, even with a logjam at the position created by reigning Premier League Player of the Season candidate Ollie Watkins.
While Duran hasn’t broken through as an every-game starter, he has arguably outperformed the talented Watkins this season and been one of the most efficient goal-scorers in Europe with more than a goal per 90 minutes in the Premiership.
Duran’s performances have continued to catch the attention of big clubs around Europe, with Colombian journalist Pipe Sierra reporting that attacking-hungry Borussia Dortmund even asked Aston Villa about the possibility of signing the 21-year-old.
Villa’s response? It would take a cool 85 million euros for Duran to leave the club, which is obviously money that Dortmund don’t really have at the moment. Last summer, Villa’s price of around 60 million for Duran seemed like overpay to sum, and, now, his price has only skyrocketed with his scoring record of 7 in 602 minutes.
So good on Aston Villa and Emery. Watkins is a great all-around striker, but Duran is the future of this club and potentially the future of this league. You can count on one hand the number of players who can finish as well as he can, and he’s not leaving this ambitious Villa project just yet.
