'I am determined to get the best out of him. I want him here.”
Those were the words of Unai Emery when asked about Jhon Duran after Aston Villa's opening weekend win over West Ham.
The striker had come off the bench in place of Ollie Watkins, struck Villa's winner and celebrated apologetically in front of the traveling fans at the London Stadium.
It was only a few weeks before Duran made an 'Irons' sign during a live stream as West Ham pursued a move for the Colombian, but that display in front of the Villa supporters seemed to say which team in claret and blue he was for wanted to play.
However, as the sides prepare for another meeting live on Sky Sports on Sunday, Duran and a possible move to West Ham are once again making headlines.
Earlier this week, Villa rejected a £57 million bid for the 21-year-old from the Londoners. In August, Emery had admitted that the club was open to a 'good offer' for Duran and that remains the case, but Duran's value has risen.
He scored twelve goals in 28 games this season, including that stunner against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Of the players who have hit the net multiple times in the Premier League this season, he has the best strike rate per 90 minutes.
Significantly, in the days after that Bayern screamer, Duran also put pen to paper on a new Villa contract, a deal that runs until 2030.
West Ham are not the only club currently looking for a goalscoring frontman and a player with Duran's skills is in short supply. “Central strikers who can score goals are worth more than that,” said Sky Sports pundit and former Arsenal frontman Alan Smith after the £57m bid was rejected.
And yet Duran remains an enigma for Emery and Villa.
On that exciting Saturday, the Spanish coach made effective use of the qualities of Watkins and Duran.
The England man, lacking fitness after a delayed return from the European Championship season, stretched the Hammers in the first hour. Then Duran arrived to finish them off.
“Today we set out the plan to use both Watkins and Duran for 90 minutes and they did a fantastic job,” Emery said at the post-match press conference.
'Super sub' became Duran's label in the weeks that followed, as decisive goals later against Leicester and Everton, and then to seal the points against Wolves, underlined the difference he could make by exploiting the defense created by Watkins softened.
But Duran is an ambitious young man. “Patience has never been my thing,” he told Sky Sports' Natalie Gedra in a strikingly candid interview in November.
“I think [Watkins] is in its moment, and you have to respect it [him] because he has the numbers, he does the work, he has everything, he has the understanding, the experience. And I think that's where I'm heading. I'm on my way to getting to this level.”
He looked to have made the most of that opportunity in December with three goals in three consecutive Premier League starts, including the win over Man City.
But what appeared to be an unfortunate red card for Duran in Newcastle saw Watkins returned to the XI.
But there has to be a way to use their talents together, right? If so, Emery has yet to find it.
In the 35 games that they were on the field together, they only scored eight goals. They are an unusual striking force because they become weaker than the sum of their parts when put together.
More worrying for Emery is that playing with two top players also undermines the foundations and solidity of the team behind them. Villa lost 13 of those 35 games and won only 10.
“The last 20 or 25 minutes, when we played with two strikers, we lost our positioning,” Emery said after sending Duran on for Watkins as Villa looked for an equalizer in their damaging Champions League defeat to Monaco on Tuesday.
“It was my mistake when we played with two attackers because we lost positioning. We lost control of the game. We were very weak in the middle.”
Expect Emery to start just one of them this weekend. Watkins is the most likely.
But five months on from the reverse fixture with West Ham, it is Duran and his role, potential and future that are still in the spotlight.
Watch Aston Villa vs West Ham live on Sky Sports Premier League on Sunday from 4pm; starting at 4:30 PM.
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