Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has a decision on his hands as Jhon Duran continues to push for a more significant role for us this season.
The 19-year-old has made six appearances since his January move from Chicago Fire, albeit he has totalled just 66 minutes of football in those outings.
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Nevertheless, he has still managed to make a positive impression in most of those brief run-outs, showcasing his technical quality and ability to offer a goalscoring threat in the final third. In turn, there have been positive signs as he continues to adjust to life in England and in the Premier League.
Emery has been clear on Duran since he signed that he would carefully manage his development and not rush him as he looks to sensibly integrate him into the squad and line-up, and his appearances so far have come in less pressurised situations late in games where he can get a feel for the intensity and tempo to adapt.
Further, he would have benefitted from training alongside the rest of the squad over the last two months as he continues to improve his game, while also soaking up as much information as possible to learn Emery’s style of management, his demands of his players on the pitch and what he wants from the team as a whole.
It’s a vital process for a young player in Duran’s position, and so the decision to gradually bring him through is the right one.
However, coupled with those positive impacts off the bench for us, the Colombian forward scored his first senior international goal in his first start for his country this week, and so not only was that a big moment for him personally, but it also showed what he’s capable of as he looks to stake a claim for more minutes at Villa.
In an impressive overall performance where he was also key in the build-up to Colombia’s second goal, Duran’s work ethic and versatility were also praised after the game by many, and so he’s hopefully continuing to mature and develop into a player who can consistently produce at the top level.
Now, Emery will of course be best placed to decide if he’s ready to start for us having seen him in training every day, or perhaps if he is ready for a bigger role off the bench having featured for over 12 minutes in a game just once, against Manchester City last month.
There’s much more to it than posing a threat in front of goal or showing flashes of quality too, as the Villa boss has a clear identity and style of play that is very demanding of all 11 players on the pitch, and so Duran has a tactical and defensive role to play too which he has to successfully carry out across 90 minutes and earn the trust of the Spanish tactician.
That’s going to be the real test for him, but having shown what he’s capable of for Colombia, and with Leon Bailey struggling to perform at a consistently high enough level in recent weeks, there is surely a major opportunity coming Duran’s way sooner rather than later to break into the Villa XI and offer support to Ollie Watkins up top.
He’s still young and inexperienced, but the only way to gain that crucial experience is by playing and while Emery will probably be rightly hesitant about changing too much in a winning side coming off the back of a 3-0 victory last time out, Duran is surely getting ever closer to getting the nod for a starting spot in the coming weeks, particularly as Villa prepare for four games in the space of 15 days.
While trusting Emery’s judgement above all else, do you think Duran is ready for a bigger Villa role now?
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