Drama is never far away as far as Jhon Duran is concerned, with the striker a constant talking point at Aston Villa.
It is fair to say that Jhon Duran has likely been one of the main causes of stress for Aston Villa manager Unai Emery over the past eight months.
Having signed from Chicago Fire in January 2023 and played second fiddle to Ollie Watkins, Duran was the surprise subject of interest from Chelsea in January of this year.
Duran’s behaviour since the initial links has been questionable at best – with his agent clearly an influence – and this has led to an acceptance that the 20-year-old would leave Villa Park this summer.
One of the clubs heavily linked with a move for the Colombian this transfer window has been West Ham, but Duran ironically scored the winner for Villa against the Hammers on Saturday to seal a 2-1 Villa triumph.
- READ MORE: Jhon Duran now only behind Erling Haaland for impressive feat after Aston Villa winner v West Ham
Jhon Duran celebration after scoring Aston Villa winner against West Ham
Duran and his agent have constantly added fuel to the fire surrounding his future.
The youngster has enormous potential but his behaviour has led Villa fans to question whether it is worth the unrest his presence brings to the club.
Duran was handed the number nine shirt amid reports he was looking more likely to have decided to stay at Villa in the lead up to the West Ham game and it was of course the transfer-linked striker who came off the bench to score the winner.
- READ MORE: Tim Sherwood reacts to Jhon Duran’s winner, states who he should play for Aston Villa or West Ham
He celebrated by pointing to his chest and then to the floor in front of the travelling Villa fans before holding up his hands in an apologetic gesture.
Whilst the more sceptical of observers may see this is actually being a sign he was going to stay right there at the London Stadium and sign for West Ham, the general consensus was the opposite.
What Duran’s Aston Villa celebration could tell us about his future
The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has provided his thoughts on the situation concerning Duran, saying on the 1874 podcast: “Let’s get this clear now, we still don’t know what’s going to happen with Jhon Duran.
It would be foolish of us – or anybody outside of his inner circle I would say – to predict what’s going to happen, because he’s the most unpredictable human being I’ve dealt with for a while.
“Anything can happen still in the couple of weeks left of the transfer window. We don’t know what’s going to happen. He might move on still and Villa might sign someone else.”
However, Evans explained how he interpreted the forward’s celebration, going on to say: “His celebration felt like: ‘If I’m playing, if I’m getting the minutes and I’m scoring goals, I’m here’ and that’s what he was doing.
“And he was doing it in front of the Villa fans and I think he was almost trying to say ‘I’m sorry for what happened over the summer, it was a little bit silly of me but i’m here at Villa now’.
“And if that’s the case come September 2nd let’s see and I think he’ll be quite fun to watch if he stays at Villa.”
Whilst many Villa fans would have been happy to see the back of Duran earlier this summer, if he changes his behaviour and continues to score important goals all will quickly be forgiven.
