Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has insisted that Jhon Duran will not be leaving on loan this summer, and he intends to rely on Cameron Archer this season too.
Duran, 19, joined us from Chicago Fire in January and went on to make 12 Premier League appearances last season, albeit in a very limited role off the bench having totalled just 124 minutes of playing time.
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Speculation has paired him with a loan exit this summer to allow him to play regularly, improve and develop his game and to gain experience to prepare him for a bigger role with us moving forward.
However, Emery has insisted that isn’t going to be the case as he intends on using the Colombian youngster this season, and the same goes for Archer who will look to impress in a Villa shirt again having enjoyed another productive loan stint with Middlesbrough last season.
“We are not speaking about the possibility of him [Duran] going on loan,” Emery told reporters in Florida, as per BirminghamLive. “He’s a player we will need because he is our second striker with Cameron Archer and we have to use both as well and we have to give them chances to help us, but it’s not a possibility for Jhon Duran to go on loan, it’s to stay here.”
There’s still a lot of work to be done with Duran as although he has strong characteristics and attributes, his talent is still raw and he lacks experience, but there are few better coaches than Emery to help him in his development given how much improvement we saw from others in the squad last season.
Further, Duran offers a different dynamic in the final third with his physicality, aerial threat and ability to offer more of a target man option, and that will be important in certain situations where we need to break down the opposition in a different way.
As for Archer, the 21-year-old has impressed in temporary spells with ‘Boro and Preston North End as well as for England U21s, and having returned quickly from his international exploits to report back for pre-season training and make the trip to the USA, it’s hoped that he can prove keeping him around this season is the right decision.
It’s an exciting trio of frontman options along with Ollie Watkins, and with the likes of Emiliano Buendia, Moussa Diaby, Jacob Ramsey, Philippe Coutinho, Leon Bailey and perhaps additional signings around them to provide support, we will hopefully have a threatening attack this year that delivers consistently between them across all competitions.
On Watkins and his contract situation, Emery added: “The idea is of course to extend his contract because we are very happy with him and he is our striker, not only him because we also have Jhon Duran and Cameron Archer.
“We have to use every player and we need other players as well to help and support us. Ollie Watkins’ experiences, his capacity and his commitment to Aston Villa is very important and it’s very important to try and get him for a long time.”
