Aston Villa boss Unai Emery hopes to have both Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran at his disposal for many more years as the pair continue to compete for a starting berth.
Prior to his recent suspension, Duran enjoyed a run of starts in the Villa line-up and has impressed so far this season, scoring 12 goals in 26 appearances.
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Beyond his goals though, the 21-year-old has now started to show promising signs of being able to effectively adapt to Emery’s demands and become an impactful focal point leading the line, and so there has been significant progress and development from him over the past five months or so.
Further, he put pen to paper on a new contract in October which could keep him with us until 2030, and so that shows how much belief and faith the club have in him to continue to develop and evolve.
Although Watkins hasn’t replicated the form he displayed last season, the 29-year-old continues to play a fundamental role for Villa, as he’s still managed to contribute eight goals and seven assists in 27 outings, while his work ethic, movement and creativity have all been key to helping us enjoy a positive first half of the campaign.
The England international will naturally come under increasing pressure from Duran to keep his place in the Villa XI, and while speculation over an exit for the Colombian striker has been dismissed this month, Emery has revealed his desire to see both players remain at the club for the next decade.
While he appreciates that will be difficult to actually achieve, the Villa boss is evidently more than happy with the attacking options at his disposal at the moment, and hopefully both Watkins and Duran continue to deliver in front of goal to ensure that isn’t an area we necessarily need to strengthen anytime soon.
“Hopefully, we can be together with Ollie and Jhon here for the next 10 years – or maybe 12 – or 15,” Emery said, as per BirminghamLive. “It will be fantastic! Now, players are extending their careers, and maybe Ollie, with his physical capacity, can play until he is 40 years old.
“Pepe Reina, he was at Aston Villa, yes? He’s 42 and playing in Italy. I’m happy with both strikers, and it’s a privilege for me to train them. Every Aston Villa supporter should be proud of how we can have strikers like Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran.
“One is the reality, and performing always very good, and progressively getting better – that’s Ollie. And the other is Jhon who is 21 and we can exploit his potential here. Of course, I don’t know if we are going to keep them here for a long time but hopefully we will.
“When both strikers were available, they helped us a lot. Each one had qualities and the capacity to play together or at different moments, one off each other. It’s very good news for us that Jhon Duran is back.
“We can play with Watkins, with Duran with both. Of course, he was out for two weeks, not playing. He’s training normally and he’s in the squad. Hopefully we can get his performances back quickly like before he had the red card.”
Emery makes an important point above in that not only do they both carry a goal threat, but they also offer different dynamics in attack based on their attributes and strengths, and when perhaps struggling to break sides down, it’s imperative to have those alternative solutions available to change the game.
In turn, particularly as Villa hope to make a habit of competing across multiple fronts moving forward year in and year out, it’s crucial to have competition in every position to raise our level. Provided that both Watkins and Duran remain happy with the situation and Emery enjoys a lengthy tenure in the job, there should be plenty left in the tank from both to continue to contribute to our progress in the coming years.
