Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran has missed out on selection for Colombia for their upcoming international friendlies due to injury.
The 19-year-old didn’t feature in our final game of the Premier League season against Brighton as he failed to make the squad, with a fitness issue being touted as the reason for his absence.
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Duran made 12 appearances following his January move from Chicago Fire, totalling 124 minutes of football, and he’ll be hoping to hit the ground running ahead of his first full season in England.
However, as per Colombian journalist Pipe Sierra, although Duran was set for a call-up from boss Nestor Lorenzo, he has been ruled out due to a ‘muscular overload’, which has forced him to sit out the upcoming encounters with Iraq and Germany.
It’s added that the injury issue is the same one that caused him to miss the win over Brighton, and so it’s hoped that it isn’t something that will sideline Duran for much longer, as he’ll hope to get back to work ahead of pre-season as he aims to stake his claim for a bigger role next season.
While Ollie Watkins’ form last year made it difficult for Duran to get much of a look in, he will hope he has made a positive impression on Unai Emery thus far, and will hopefully have learned a lot and adapted to life in the Premier League and England to help his long-term acclimatisation.
Villa are expected to be busy in the upcoming summer transfer window and it remains to be seen if Emery opts to bring in more firepower, while Cameron Archer will return from his impressive loan spell at Middlesbrough hoping to earn a spot in the Villa boss’s plans moving forward too.
In turn, Duran will likely face increased competition next season, and so it’s important for him to fully recover from this injury as soon as possible to allow him to get back to work and start his preparation.