Emery gets Jhon Duran decision right at Aston Villa amid Al-Nassr development
Aston Villa made the decision to sell Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr during the winter transfer window.
This came as a shock to the Villans who had often relied on the impact of the Colombia international off the bench throughout the season.
Despite this, a £71million offer from the Saudi Pro League was enough for a bid to be accepted in B6 for the mercurial 21-year-old.
As much of a blow as this appeared to be at Villa Park, it now looks like Unai Emery has made the right decision as it stands.
Jhon Duran on fire for Al-Nassr after Aston Villa sale
There is no doubt that the ex-Chicago Fire youngster was one of the most exciting players in the Premier League during the opening stages of the season.
This saw him net an average of 1.01 goals per 90 across 20 appearances [FotMob], summing up just how good he was.
Duran has maintained this electric form since moving and joining up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr with three goals in his first two games.
This saw the Colombian net a brace against Al Ahli on Thursday (13 February) to help secure a win despite Ivan Toney scoring for the opposition.
This sparked a widespread reaction that a mistake had been made at Villa Park by selling the striker but it can certainly be argued that this isn’t the case.
Aston Villa and Unai Emery right to sell Jhon Duran
As great as the forward was, there were issues during his spell in the West Midlands, none more so than his links to West Ham.
This always appeared to cause issues in the dressing room at Villa Park which won’t have gone down well with Emery and Co.
Duran’s electric form off the bench also negatively impacted the work of Ollie Watkins who has struggled in front of goal at times this campaign.
With that being said, bringing in a sizable fee for the 15-time Colombia international appeared to be an option that was too good to turn down.
This allowed the Villans to bring Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio to B6 on loan and their impact may prove to be bigger than Duran alone.
Having more attacking options ahead of a busy second half of the campaign could prove to be wise and ultimately look like the correct decision from Emery and Monchi in the Villa boardroom.