Unai Emery has called for Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran to be “patient” following speculation about his future this summer.
Duran, who was the subject of £30million ($38.6m) plus teenager Lewis Orford bid from West Ham in July and interest from Chelsea, has been at the centre of Villa’s transfer ongoings, having expressed a desire for regular game time.
The Colombia international made one league start last season and remains firmly behind top scorer Ollie Watkins in the forward pecking order.
Ironically, however, Villa will travel to West Ham for their opening day fixture on Saturday, with Duran included in the squad.
“He is young and he has a big potential to exploit,” said Emery. “He will need time and he will need to be patient. Sometimes he wasn’t being patient and he wants everything so quick. To be here fighting with Watkins for one position and seeing how successful Watkins’ career is here, it’s not easy.
“He was telling us he was thinking his best option was to leave so he could play more and more for another club and fulfil his potential, I can understand it. We were always talking to him to help and support him. We wanted to take the best decision for everybody, for him, for the club and for us.
“He is young and he sometimes makes mistakes that a mature and responsible person would not do. So the process with him is to try to support and help him go the right way.
Until then, every decision we make about him will be me trying to help him and support him. I want to use him and use his potential with us – hopefully we will get it.”
John Duran sitting on the sidelines for Aston Villa
Duran faced disciplinary action upon returning to Villa this month after appearing to cross his arms and making an Irons-shaped gesture during an Instagram live.
The stream was watched by nearly a thousand people at the time but has since reached larger audiences on social media platforms. The 20-year-old, in an interview that took place in Colombia, admitted he was keen to leave Villa and was “happy that there are these rumours” regarding his future.
“For me, it is a youngster’s mistakes,” said Emery, when asked about Duran’s behaviour on social media. “We have been speaking a lot with him about his commitment over the whole season, about being focussed, about his development, respect and everything. When he made these mistakes we spoke to him and tried to get him to show the commitment we want to build here.
“He accepted it and, after the conversation we had with him, his wish to commit to us now is going really well. He is training well, he is in the squad for tomorrow. I want to speak with the team and with each individual player about our objectives.
“Now he is one of those players who I think is with us and he is going to do his best in an Aston Villa shirt and defend us.”
(Zac Goodwin/PA Images via Getty Images)
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