“Big Jhon… he’s a bit nuts.”
Those were the words of John McGinn after Jhon Durán came off the bench against Liverpool to score a brace, with the 3-3 draw seeing Villa through to this year’s edition of the Champions League.
It is telling for McGinn, a player himself who likes to play on the edge physically, to describe Durán as a “bit nuts”.
Yet it perfectly summarises the rapid career trajectory of Durán.
Durán’s winner against Bayern Munich, which may well go down as one of the most famous goals in Villa’s rich history, marked the latest high point of what seems an unstoppable rise since he joined from Chicago Fire in January 2023 for a potential £17.75 million.
Since then, he has been rewarded with a new deal that runs until 2030 which also includes a significant pay rise.
His stats since his debut are startling: he has more goals than any other player off the bench (8) while, granted it is a small sample size, the only player in Premier League history with a better goals-per-minute ratio is Erling Haaland.
But his current achievements are all the more remarkable given his upbringing.
Durán comes from the rural Zaragoza municipality in Columbia: it has a population of 25,000 and has suffered from poverty and isolation as a result of the end of the Gold Mining trade in the area.
Durán himself was supposedly not an easy customer as a kid, as his childhood coach Wilberth Perea told The Athletic when he tried to find Durán at school to pick him up for a football match, only to then find him listening to reggaeton at home instead – he said he was so angry at him “I could have almost grabbed him by the throat.”
The talent was still obvious to those who coached Durán in his youth.
At the age of 11 he joined Envigado’s academy, a prestigious breeding ground of footballing talent that has produced players such as James Rodriguez, and ranks only second to Athletico Bilbao in giving opportunities for young players to play professional football in the world.
From that point, Durán featured on the radars of some major international clubs.
Durán was published in The Guardian’s 60 best young players in the world in 2020, which sparked a rush of interest.
This makes Durán’s move to Chicago Fire in 2021, where he had to remain on loan at Envigado for a year until he turned 18, so unusual considering the clubs who were in for him – something which Sebastian Pelzer (Chicago Fire CEO) detailed to the BBC.
At the time Durán was the youngest international signing in MLS history and came with a weight of expectation considering his £1.8 million fee – a hefty price considering the limited financial power of most MLS sides.
After a slow start, he finished his first season as top scorer at Chicago Fire with 8 goals in 28 games. It was at this point that Aston Villa then came in for Durán.
If anything, this largely mirrors his time at Villa.
Durán found himself as a firm understudy to Ollie Watkins for the majority of last season, starting just two games in total.
It is only this season where Durán has exploded into life: this season alone he has 5 goals off the bench already which has prompted calls for Durán to start ahead of Watkins or at least with him – something which seemed unthinkable last season when Watkins scored 19 goals in the Premier League.
Yet the magic of Durán as a player is his ability to cause chaos off the bench, which is when he has been at his most effective as a Villa player.
Part of this is down to the players which Durán has modelled his game off: Perea said that he tried to model Durán’s physicality off Romelu Lukaku and his movement off Luis Suarez, which means Durán is such a difficult player to deal with when players are tiring because of his ability to run in behind as well as hold the ball up.
It’s no surprise then to see teammate Morgan Rogers describing Durán as a “different animal” after his winner against Bayern Munich when you look at characteristics of his game off the bench, while Emi Martinez said he had potential to be “one of the best strikers in the world.”
However, Durán has not come without any baggage.
This summer, he pushed strongly for a move away from Aston Villa with West Ham seeing a bid of £32 million plus teenager Lewis Orford rejected, and he did not take Villa’s reluctance to let him go lightly.
Durán was seen doing an irons gesture (one that West Ham fans make) on an Instagram Live page, which led to major criticism from Villa fans – Emery described this mildly as a “youngster’s mistake”.
When Durán scored the winner off the bench against West Ham on the first weekend of the season, his celebration was an apology for his summer antics.
The irony of Durán’s winner is bordering on comedic, which reflects how Durán comes across as a person at times.
From the outside looking in, it often looks as though Durán can come across as so self-confident it borders on bullish arrogance, such as his opinion of his own abilities.
But those who know him personally say he is a completely different character off the pitch – Perea’s story from before suggests how Durán is almost too relaxed privately.
Emery though clearly deserves great credit for how he has managed Durán considering the position Durán was in during the summer.
It’s a symbol of elite man-management when a manager can re-integrate a want-out player and get them to perform to the level Durán has done so far this season.
Regardless of how Emery has managed to tame elements of Durán’s game and personality, McGinn’s comments will remain timeless about what it says about Durán.
Being a “bit nuts” is what defines Durán’s rise and will almost certainly define the rest of his career.
Image credit: Emily Lucas @mydotillustration