View: Jhon Duran transfer to Aston Villa mirrors that of Colombian legend Juan Pablo Angel
New Aston Villa signing Jhon Duran couldn’t hold back the tears when he received a special Villa Park welcome from club and hometown hero Juan Pablo Angel.
The 19-year-old was announced as Unai Emery’s newest recruit by the club through Twitter, as they posted a video of Angel leaving a special message for the youngster, which was played on the big screens at Villa Park.
Both players were born and grew up in the city of Medellin, and you can’t help but hope Duran can live up to the lofty achievements of his Colombian predecessor.
After swapping his allegiances from the Argentinian side River Plate for the streets of Birmingham in 2000, for a club record fee of £9.5million, Angel would go on to become a cult hero amongst the claret and blue faithful.
After initially struggling to hit the ground running at Villa Park, Angel scored 62 goals in 205 appearances for the club over six and a half years and was a mainstay in sides managed by John Gregory, David O’Leary and Martin O’Neill.
The highlight of his stay came under O’Leary in the campaign of 2003/04, when Villa finished sixth and reached the semi-final of the League Cup, largely thanks to the 23 goals the Colombian scored in all competitions.
He proved himself to be an extremely strong and clinical number nine once he got into the penalty box, and his highlight reel is quite something to behold.
The floppy hair, the flamboyant playing style, and the heart Angel played with on a weekly basis quickly made him a fan favourite upon signing, and his goals tally makes him the third-most successful Villa striker in the Premier League era.
The only part of Angel’s game that flattered to deceive was his record from the penalty spot.
According to a report by talkSPORT in 2019, the Colombian holds the worst record from 12 yards in Premier League history. A 50% strike rate (5/10) from the spot is far from pretty reading, and a memorable mention must go to the duo of missed penalties in a match against Fulham in 2005.
Although Duran will hope his penalty record is more fruitful than his Colombian counterpart, the striker is a perfect role model to aspire to in the coming years.
If Duran can live up to Angel’s prior achievements in claret and blue, Villa will have one hell of a player on their hands, that’s for sure.
In other Aston Villa news, can Unai Emery’s side possibly push for European football in the second half of the Premier League season?