As Amadou Onana threw three fist pumps in the direction of the Aston Villa supporters housed in a pocket of the Wankdorf Stadium – confirmation, as if they needed it, their Champions League campaign was up and running – down the other end, a Uefa steward wielding a black umbrella made a beeline for Jhon Durán.
About 20 minutes earlier the striker had riled the home fans by jumping on the advertising hoardings and wildly celebrating before them, thinking he had put Villa 3-0 up. Young Boys supporters hurled plastic cups and other disposables towards him, before the goal was disallowed after a VAR review. As Durán sauntered towards the tunnel not long after the final whistle, a hi-vis steward moved to shelter the insanely watchable Colombian from round two.
It was Durán in a nutshell: an unerring world-class, first-time finish served with a dollop of chaos. When Durán is on the pitch, things happen. In five substitute appearances this season totalling about 140 minutes, he has scored three goals, all winners, including a preposterous one-touch-and-bang screamer against Everton that left Emiliano Martínez open-mouthed and Onana with his hands on his head in disbelief. Durán can lay claim to the best non-penalty goals per 90 minutes average in Premier League history for players who have played more than 450 minutes, albeit off a sample size of 718 minutes. He could also argue he is the player who propelled Villa into Europe’s premier club competition. Ollie Watkins scored 19 league goals last season but it was Durán who earned Villa’s final point, scoring two goals in the last five minutes of normal time against Liverpool.
A video emerged this week of a 16-year-old Durán and his friends walking out to play on a street in Medellín to the sound of the Champions League anthem during the Covid pandemic. A lot has happened since. The 20-year-old is now one of the most exciting forwards in the game. Rivals look at Villa with envy. In Durán and Watkins they have two of the league’s most deadly strikers.
Villa moved swiftly to sign Durán from Chicago Fire in January 2023, beating RB Leipzig, Benfica and Borussia Dortmund, among others, to his signature. What sealed the deal was Villa’s detailed presentation on how Durán could thrive and become a hero at Villa Park like his countryman Juan Pablo Ángel, Villa’s £9.5m then record signing in 2001. Durán’s father, Regino, was wowed. Once Durán was in the building, the Villa players quickly recognised he was more than a teenage upstart. Those thoughts crystallised when Durán cracked the crossbar at Manchester City on his second appearance.
Villa had done their homework on Durán, who made his first-team debut for the Colombian top-flight side Envigado at 15 and regularly competed against seasoned thirtysomething defenders. Chicago Fire made him the youngest signing in Major League Soccer history as a 17-year-old, though he officially joined at 18. Durán excelled in the US, despite freezing winter temperatures, moving without his family and with no English.
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He displayed the tools to shine on a bigger stage: aerial prowess, athleticism, strength, movement and a hammer of a left foot – almost all of his finishes are akin to burying the black to make a 147 snooker break. And composure, none more so than when lobbing the Cincinnati goalkeeper, Roman Celentano, to score a fitting final goal for Chicago Fire before an £18m move to Villa.
Even when he is not on the pitch, stuff happens. There was the Instagram faux pas when he said during a Q&A he would leave Chicago Fire if given the chance, and he created another social-media storm this summer when, amid interest from West Ham, he crossed his arms during a live stream. Durán had been tracked by Chelsea since last year and made clear his desire to leave Villa this summer in search of more playing time. Monchi, Villa’s president of football operations, recently said Durán attracted interest from 40 clubs. “Sometimes he wasn’t being patient and he wants everything so quick,” said the Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery.
This is surely where Emery, enthused by Durán’s huge potential, deserves credit. Emery reminded Durán of his responsibilities, stressing the need for commitment and focus. The Villa manager has been impressed with Durán’s development, though his celebration in the Swiss capital was less mature, more vintage. Emery gestured for calm, tapping his temples at the forward. “Some players, being young, they take time to get mature and be 100% responsible,” Emery said.
Flashes of petulance – throwing his arms in the air at decisions or fuming in the tunnel at playing second fiddle to Watkins – are just that. Last season Emery was often seen pulling Durán into position, yelling at him to press or pick up his marker. Emery’s education is paying dividends. The Spaniard admires Durán’s power and is adamant he can be of the world’s best strikers; Martínez has said the same. Once off the leash, Durán does damage.
When teammates discuss Durán, they do so with a smile. One unravelled on Youri Tielemans’s face when he was asked whether he had noticed a shift in Durán this season. “Well, inside the changing room he has always been the same guy, really funny, his own character,” the midfielder said. “He is doing his talking on the pitch, you can see he is being really focused, working hard for himself, the team and on the training pitch doing his bits like everyone has asked.” John McGinn got straight to the point at the end of last season. “Big Jhon … he’s a bit nuts,” said the captain. “He’s a nightmare sometimes to have in your team.”
Durán has another chance to gain notoriety of a different kind at home to Wolves on Saturday. Brimming with confidence and capable of the outrageous, he could make another splash. At one point on Tuesday Villa’s 1,600 travelling fans broke into the old chorus about John Carew, the former Norway striker who spent four years at the club. “He’s bigger than me and you,” they crooned. These days there is another No 9 by the name of Big Jhon in town.
