Aston Villa: Dan Bardell reacts to Jhon Duran situation amid Unai Emery fallout reports
We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports journalist Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Dan Bardell doesn’t believe there has been a falling out between Jhon Duran and Unai Emery despite the “strange” situation the forward finds himself in at Aston Villa.
Colombian outlet Noticias RCN reported on 23 October that the 19-year-old is in a dispute with the Villa boss over a lack of game time after he deleted all of his posts related to the club on his Instagram.
The Colombian international was left out of the squad for the Premier League victories over West Ham and Luton Town despite coming off the bench in the Europa Conference League win over AZ Alkmaar on 26 October.
Bardell expects Duran to be spending “a lot of time on the bench” as Ollie Watkins is the first-choice forward and the South American has been brought in as a future investment.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “I think he’s had injuries, to be honest. There’s stuff flying around about social media, but I think he’s been carrying a knock. I don’t believe there’s been any type of falling out. If there was to be a falling out, Unai Emery rules the roost, you don’t want to mess with him.
“Duran made a good start to the season, scored some goals, made an impact off the bench. It’s clear there’s a really good player there.
“It must be difficult for him because he’ll want to play, but Ollie Watkins is always going to be that starting striker. Duran will come in for the odd game, cup games here and there. But in the Premier League, Watkins is the one that’s going to start and Duran’s going to have to bide his time.
“But it must be a strange situation for him when he’s going away on international duty and he’s Colombia’s number nine at the moment, then he comes back to Villa and he knows he’s not going to play.
“He’s young, he’s got a bit of confidence and arrogance about him in a good way. He’ll believe that he should be in the team, but unfortunately for him, he’s young and he’s going to have to be patient.
“Villa have bought him very much as a future striker as an investment and Ollie Watkins is so good that he’s going to, unfortunately for him, be spending a lot of time on the bench.”
In other Aston Villa news, a senior man may have quit before he was pushed out of Villa Park by Monchi.