'I am determined to get the best out of him. I want him to be here. “
Those were Unai Emery's words when he was asked about Jhon Duran after the victory of Aston Villa in the opening weekend in West Ham.
The striker had stepped off the bank instead of Ollie Watkins, struck the winner of Villa and celebrated the apologetic feast for the traveling fans at the London Stadium.
It took only a few weeks before Duran made an 'Irons' sign during a live stream when West Ham pursued a move for the Colombian, but that demonstration for the Villa supporters seemed to say for which team in Bordeaux and Blauw he seemed wanted to play.
However, while the parties are preparing for a new meeting, live on Sky Sports on Sunday, Duran and a possible switch to West Ham again get the headlines.
Earlier this week Villa rejected an £ 57 million offer on the 21-year-old of the Londoners. In August Emery had admitted that the club was open for a 'good offer' for Duran and it will remain that way, but the value of Duran has risen.
This season he scored twelve goals in 28 games, including that blast against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Of the players who have hit the net several times this season in the Premier League, he has the best battle percentage per 90 minutes.
It is significant that Duran also put a new Villa contract on paper in the days after that Bayern-Schreeuwer, a deal that runs until 2030.
West Ham is not the only club that is currently looking for a scoring frontman and a player with Duran's skills is scarce. “Central attackers who can score goals are worth more than that,” said Sky Sports expert and former Arsenal frontman Alan Smith after the £ 57 million bid had been rejected.
And yet Duran remains a mystery for Emery and Villa.
On that exciting Saturday, the Spanish coach made effective use of the properties of Watkins and Duran.
The English man, who had too little condition after a delayed return of the European Championship season, stretched the Hammers for the first hour. Then Duran arrived to finish them.
“Today we have drawn up the plan to use both Watkins and Duran for ninety minutes and they have done fantastic work,” Emery said at the press conference after the game.
'Super Sub' became Duran's label in the weeks that followed, then decisive hits later against Leicester and Everton, and then to seal the points against Wolves, underlined the difference that he could make by exploiting the defense by Watkins softened.
But Duran is an ambitious young man. “Patience has never been my thing,” he told Natalie Geedra of Sky Sports in November during a strikingly candid interview.
“I think [Watkins] is at his time, and you must respect [him] Because he has the figures, he does the work, he has everything, he has the concept, the experience. And I think I'm on my way there. I'm on my way to get to this level. “
It seemed that he had used that chance for himself in December with three goals in three consecutive Premier League-Starts, including the victory over Man City.
But what an unfortunate red card seemed for Duran in Newcastle, made sure that Watkins returned to the eleventh.
But there must be a way to use their talents together? If so, Emery still has to find it.
In the 35 games that they were on the field together, they only scored eight goals. They form an unusual strength because they become weaker than the sum of parts when they are merged.
More worrying for Emery is that playing with two top players also undermine the foundations and the firmness 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 attackers, we lost our positioning,” Emery said after he had sent Duran to Watkins, while Villa was looking for the equalizer in their harmful Champions League defeat to Monaco on Tuesday.
“It was my fault when we played with two attackers, because we lost the positioning. We lost control of the game. We were very weak in the middle.”
Expect that Emery will only start one of them this weekend. Watkins is the most likely.
But five months after the reverse competition 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 in the Sky Sports Premier League on Sunday from 4 p.m. Start 4.30 pm.
Comments