Jhon Durán, the in-form Aston Villa striker, has signed up to a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2030.
The Colombian scored a spectacular winner against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week to continue a run of great scoring from – mostly from the bench. Villa have moved to secure a player whose value has increased hugely.
Durán might have departed the club in the past summer. Amid a flurry of bids from interested parties, he was most closely linked with West Ham. Infamously, he allowed himself to be pictured on social media making the crossed-arms gesture, only for that move to break down. Chelsea were another interested party.
By coincidence, the 20-year-old scored the winner at West Ham from the bench on the opening weekend of the season. He has scored four times since as a sub, with Unai Emery retaining Ollie Watkins as starting striker. His sole start, against Wycombe in the Carabao Cup, also saw him score.
After that Bayern goal, an opportunist hit that left goalkeeper Manuel Neuer stranded, Emery said: “He arrived here two years ago and he is young, his potential is huge. Sometimes he has been impatient and I need to speak to him as a person and connect to him as a person.
“As well as a player to try to let him play, putting him on the field because his talent is there and the capacity to help us. This is the talent that some players have and when Jhon Durán has the ball he is scoring quickly.”
The Colombian joined Villa in January 2023 from the MLS side Chicago Fire for £18m and scored five goals in 23 Premier League appearances last season but had seemed surplus to requirements. Emery and the sporting director Monchi, having sold Cameron Archer to Southampton and Moussa Diaby to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, chose to retain Durán as a forward option after West Ham withdrew their interest.
Durán was again a substitute in Sunday’s draw with Manchester United, arriving in the 63rd minute, but like everyone else in a forgettable stalemate, he was unable to find a route to goal. United were linked with a move for him when he was at Chicago, only for financial restrictions to prevent any deal.
