Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran remained coy when asked about his future at the club, but hinted that his agent is assessing his options.
The 20-year-old arrived from Chicago Fire in January 2023, and has since gone on to score eight goals in 49 appearances for Villa across all competitions.
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Based on what we’ve seen of him so far, albeit in a limited depth role, there is clearly a talented player there, but question marks have been raised over his adaptability under Unai Emery as well as his character, based on public comments from the Villa boss and captain John McGinn last season.
Given our lack of competition and depth behind Ollie Watkins up front, Duran has had a fundamental role to play over the last 12 months, but ultimately it doesn’t feel as though he fully took advantage of that, be it his reported behaviour off the pitch or his lack of consistency on it.
Speculation has been rife over his future in recent weeks as he’s been heavily linked with Chelsea for some time, as noted by the Telegraph, and while he doesn’t necessarily confirm that he’s looking to move on, his comments below don’t exactly dismiss the rumours either.
“In England, we are doing well, studying it. Options of the other teams, I don’t know, I’m not aware right now, I’m focused on the National Team, on the Copa América, wanting to add minutes, supporting the team a lot.
“For those issues of possible signing, I already have other people who take care of that.” he told Noticias Caracol.
Opinion is seemingly split among Villa fans on whether or not it’s perhaps Duran’s agent pushing for a move given his lack of playing time last season, or if it’s the Colombian international himself who wants to move on.
With his social media activity attracting plenty of attention last season, Chelsea are possibly his desired destination at some point, and so if a suitable deal can be agreed upon, perhaps we’ll see him move on before the start of next season.
What is clearer now though following the sale of Tim Iroegbunam and expected exits for Omari Kellyman and Douglas Luiz, Villa have eased our PSR concerns heading towards the end of June deadline, and so if Duran is sold, it’s hopefully for a significant fee and the club have a better option in mind to upgrade on him.
