Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has clarified why Jhon Duran was absent from the squad that faced West Ham Utd on Sunday.
The 19-year-old was not included in the matchday squad for our 4-1 win over the Hammers this past weekend, and it was a noticeable omission given his usual presence on the bench to provide depth up top for Ollie Watkins.
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Duran has made 11 appearances so far this season, scoring four goals, and with Unai Emery not making any mention of a possible injury concern ahead of the game, it was unclear as to why the Colombia international wasn’t involved.
Reports in Colombia began to speculate that there was a ‘dispute’ brewing in light of Duran’s recent social media activity, which potentially stemmed from his limited minutes so far this season.
However, Emery has now provided clarity on the situation, and has revealed that Duran was left out on Sunday due to an injury that he picked up while on international duty, and that he spoke with him about his social media and was satisfied with the response provided.
“The only truth is he was not available to play on Sunday because he was injured,” Emery told the media at his pre-match press conference. “He came back from Colombia being injured and we have to support and to help him every day trying to focus him on only football each training session on how he can improve and progress with us.
“I am not here to control the social media for each individual player and I asked him about it. He told me that it’s not really relevant and he’s thinking and focusing about playing with us and trying to increase his level. Firstly, trying to focus each training session preparing hard so he is ready, like tomorrow.
“I spoke with him about everything and he told me it was not relevant and for me it is not relevant. They can do with their social media respecting everything, everything they want.”
Duran was not only seen in our final training session at Bodymoor Heath ahead of travelling to Alkmaar in midweek for our Europa Conference League encounter, but he was also with the squad as they boarded their flight for the trip to the Netherlands.
In turn, it was already clear that he was set to be involved in midweek, but it’s good to hear from Emery on the situation to dismiss any suggestion of an issue between the pair or anything of that nature, and hopefully Duran will make an impact if he gets minutes in what promises to be a difficult encounter.
While he has had a limited role so far this season, he remains an important part of the squad, and particularly given he offers a different dynamic up top to Watkins, he will no doubt prove to be a useful asset over the course of the campaign.
