View: Unknown quantity Jhon Duran was a gamble worth taking for Aston Villa
When news broke of Aston Villa reaching an agreement for the services of 19-year-old striker Jhon Duran, fans would have been left scrambling to their laptops to play the first YouTube highlight reel they could get their hands on.
The Athletic confirmed on Monday (16 January) the deal for the relatively unknown forward was worth an initial £14.8million with a potential £4million worth of performance-related add-ons.
The deal is still subject to Duran completing his medical and agreeing to personal terms, but the striker, who Villa had been scouting for the past six months, is all but confirmed as an Aston Villa footballer.
But just what will he bring to Unai Emery’s side, and is he really worth the expensive gamble, considering the lack of experienced alternatives currently in the first-team squad?
The exponential rise of Duran has been quite something to witness, with the raw talent making his pro debut in August 2019, aged 15, where he became the second youngest goalscorer in the Colombian top-flight history.
After lighting up the Colombian league for a mere few months, Chicago snapped the striker up for £2million, and after another year plying his trade at Envigado, he arrived in the MLS as an unknown quantity.
However, his raw pace and ridiculous physique for a player of such young age made him a nightmare for defenders once he was given an opportunity to start for Chicago. When he was finally played as a No 9, he scored twice against Toronto in July and subsequently netted five times in his final five appearances for the club.
Overall, Duran ended up netting eight goals and providing five assists in his 22 appearances in the MLS, which represents a promising output for a player of his age.
The 19-year-old is a raw talent, with a couple of glaring weaknesses in his game. His hold-up play and positional sense could do with some work in the coming years, but under the guidance of Emery this shouldn’t be an issue.
When he is on the ball, you can’t help but be impressed, though. Duran makes hard, strong runs in a variety of attacking situations and his physical profile – 6ft 1in and extremely well built – makes him a handful for opposing defences to deal with.
It’s easy to see why the likes of Liverpool and Benfica were interested in the Colombian International [Goal], who may remind Villa fans of former player Tammy Abraham in terms of his style of play.
Duran looks like he could be the perfect foil to Ollie Watkins once he is integrated into Emery’s philosophy at Villa Park, and the pair together could be an extremely dangerous strike force.
Both possess an abundance of energy, pace and willingness to do the dirty work, so opposition defences may well think twice about stroking the ball about the back-four while in possession.
The reality is Villa have taken a calculated risk and signed a player who is still in the early stages of his development. Duran has plenty of work to live up to his price tag, but you can’t help but feel Emery has signed a rough gem with huge potential.
In other Aston Villa news, this 17-year-old academy prospect has signed his first professional contract with the club.