Unai Emery saw his Aston Villa side start the new Premier League season with a bang as Jhon Duran scored a later winner against West Ham.
Aston Villa started the 2023/24 Premier League season with a 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United in which Tyrone Mings suffered a season-ending injury so it was almost impossible to begin the new campaign as badly.
However, Unai Emery watched on as his side negotiated a tricky test away at West Ham, winning 2-1 thanks to a late winner from substitute Jhon Duran.
The irony will not be lost on either set of supporters, with the striker heavily linked with a move to the Hammers this summer and even posting a video in which he did a West Ham gesture.
Duran’s 80th minute strike saw Villa regain the lead that they had taken through new signing Amadou Onana in just the fourth minute that had been cancelled out by a Lucas Paqueta penalty after a Matty Cash foul.
- READ MORE: Aston Villa player ratings vs West Ham: 8/10 talent shines but 5/10 attacker fails to impress
The Villans survived a late West Ham surge to seal their first three points of the season.
Jhon Duran goals sees him now second best only to Erling Haaland in Premier League statistic
Duran has infuriated Aston Villa with his antics ever since he was first linked with a move to Chelsea in January.
The Colombian has done himself no favours with his behaviour, constantly adding fuel to speculation of a departure.
As things stand he is still a Villa player and his celebration suggested he could remain so after netting against West Ham.
- READ MORE: Jhon Duran posts a brilliant Instagram message after scoring winner for Aston Villa at West Ham
He is understandably frustrated that he is playing second fiddle to Ollie Watkins, but at 20 should understand he still has much to learn.
However, his late winner against West Ham sees him close in on Manchester City marksman Erling Haaland who tops a Premier League statistic.
As pointed out by Villa journalist John Townley on ‘X’: “Jhon Duran has now scored six Premier League goals from just 616 minutes played, an average of one every 103 minutes.
“Among players to have scored five or more Premier League goals, only Erling Haaland (85) has a better minutes-to-goals rate.
“Top talent.”
Duran staying at Aston Villa will save Unai Emery a fortune
An impressive ratio, Villa know that Duran is a player who could have a huge future.
The hope will be that Saturday’s heroics will see the young striker realise that he can have a big part to play for Emery this season, with the Champions League meaning there will be plenty of games.
Whilst Villa could have commanded a decent fee for Duran, if he is willing to now stay it is a real boost for the club who would no longer need to worry about signing another centre-forward.
This means they can instead put their funds into a Moussa Diaby replacement and potentially a centre-back.
With Watkins likely to take a while to get up to speed having not featured in pre-season due to his England exploits, Duran could prove a key player early in the season.
