Unai Emery knows he now has two brilliant strikers to call on at Aston Villa, with Jhon Duran starting the season on fire.
Ollie Watkins was Aston Villa’s undisputed main man last season, scoring 27 goals and providing 13 assists in all competitions.
Given the 28-year-old’s scintillating form it was difficult for Unai Emery to justify playing Jhon Duran, with Watkins’ goals firing Villa to the Champions League.
For most 20-year-olds playing second fiddle to one of the best strikers in Europe would be an acceptable position to be in, but interest from Chelsea in January caused Duran to get restless and seek a Villa Park exit.
Having only signed from Chicago Fire in January 2023, Duran did not cover himself in glory with his behaviour as he constantly fuelled talk of an exit with his actions.
A move to West Ham United looked most likely for the Colombian this summer, but after talks with Emery and being handed the number nine shirt, Duran then scored the winner against the Hammers on the opening day of the season.
For now at least, the exciting centre-forward seems to be happy at Villa and followed up his winner against West Ham with a goal in the win over Leicester City on Saturday after again replacing Watkins off the bench.
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Duran has started each of Villa’s games so far this season on the bench but we have seen him replace Watkins far earlier than he would have last year as he has been given a real chance to influence games.
He has done that and in doing so has demonstrated that he can step up; particularly if Watkins’ form does not improve with the England striker yet to get off the mark.
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Watkins’ lack of sharpness in the early weeks of the season can perhaps be attributed to his lack of pre-season given his exploits with England at Euro 2024.
The former Brentford striker has missed a host of glorious chances already this season, with a couple in the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal particularly surprising.
Duran has looked a man possessed when coming off the bench and will not be happy to sit on the bench forever should Watkins continue to misfire.
For Emery, though, having two strikers of such quality is a very nice problem to have.
John Townley believes Aston Villa have best strike force in the Premier League
Villa clearly saw huge potential in Duran given they agreed to pay Chicago Fire £18 million to bring the then-19-year-old Colombian to England in January 2023.
The fact he is still at the club despite some of his behaviour since the initial Chelsea interest in January also shows that the club have been willing to compromise given their belief in Duran as a player.
After such a strong start to the season, Villa journalist John Townley has now made a bold claim about Duran and Watkins.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Claret & Blue podcast, Townley posed the question: “This might sound mad, have Villa got the best two strikers in the league?”
The journalist went on to substantiate his claim, adding: “I don’t think there’s a better – as in number nines, Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran – there’s no better partnership than that, there can’t be.
“Unless you’re looking at maybe [Alexander] Isaak and Callum Wilson, but I don’t think Wilson is the player he was even a year ago.
“So, I think we’ve got the best strike partnership, if you see where I’m going with this. I’m not saying we have the best forward line, absolutely not, but in terms of number nines.”
A huge claim, Emery certainly has some impressive firepower to call upon at Villa this season.
