Unai Emery was right to bristle at the line of questioning after Aston Villa’s first match and first win at Europe’s top table for 41 years.
The Spaniard had just overseen a convincing 3-0 win at Young Boys to kickstart Villa’s Champions League campaign, but the fixation was on Jhon Duran’s disallowed goal and the celebration that followed.
Duran earned a yellow card after standing on an advertising board and stretching his arms out in front of the home ultras, which prompted a vociferous response: projectiles aimed in his direction, a brief scuffle among players, and jeers for the remainder of the game.
The striker even had one steward shield him with an umbrella as they passed the ultras down the tunnel after full-time, and this episode prompted intrigue in the press conference that followed.
“Some players being young, they take time to get mature and responsible 100 per cent,” Emery said.
“We are now fixing only on this moment, I think it is not fair, we are speaking about 90 minutes, how is he playing, how he continued improving, things like that. I am involved with the player about his work and his behaviour but I think it’s not serious. It’s not very serious.”
Emery is right to downplay the incident. Every team needs a maverick and Villa may well just have another within their squad.
Other mavericks have come and gone at Villa – Dwight Yorke, Paul Merson, David Ginola, Benito Carbone and Jack Grealish to name five – but now Duran joins Emiliano Martinez, whose antics after the World Cup final win over France are as infamous as his late, vital save during it.
Martinez gets jeered wherever he goes, lapping it up when taking time with goal kicks, while his mind games against Lille last season earned him the rarity of a booking during a penalty shootout, which Villa went on to win thanks to the Argentine.
In Duran, Villa have an emerging invaluable asset, not only for his attitude but as a second striker who is delivering off the bench.
In just 103 minutes of Premier League football, his three goals already this season have all been decisive. He scored the winner at West Ham, put Villa 2-0 up in their 2-1 win over Leicester, and then scored a screamer for another match-winner against Everton.
That goal was reminiscent of Savo Milosevic’s wondergoal in the 1996 League Cup final, Villa’s last major trophy, with the Serbian striker enjoying his own redemption arc while playing for the West Midlands club.
Savo Milošević joined Aston Villa from Partizan #OnThisDay in 1995.
— Aston Villa Statto (@AVFCStatto) June 26, 2024
He remains the player to have have scored the most left-footed in a Premier League season for Aston Villa (9 in 1996/1997).
This is my favourite Savo goal though
pic.twitter.com/PWPGzhrBJ2
“Savo!” used to be a playground jibe – in some Birmingham schools at least – after a bad miss while playing football, but despite dry spells in front of goal and being dubbed “Miss-a-lot-evic” by the press, he had his moments. Particularly that memorable strike at Wembley.
In Duran’s case, his time in the sun against Everton – a goal that will take some beating for Premier League goal of the season – was followed by this provocative celebration against Young Boys just three days later.
Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor, sitting next to i during that match in Bern, said he certainly would not have celebrated in that manner, but so long as Emery can harness this mentality it should only benefit the club.
Duran is, after all, not the only player who loves to celebrate in front of opposition fans. See also Jamie Vardy, who marked his return to the Premier League with a playful gesture towards Tottenham fans in Leicester’s 1-1 draw in August.
Ruffling feathers is not everyone’s bag, but every team needs someone willing to do it, and now Villa have two at a time.
Duran was close to leaving in the summer – with Villa reportedly rejecting more than 40 bids for the player – and he naively did an “Irons” sign on an Instagram live while being linked with West Ham, another indication of his eccentricity.
He is therefore still a work in progress, but both Emery and Martinez can see the potential, one that made Duran worth keeping despite his desire for more game-time elsewhere.
“His potential is huge and I want to get the best of him, support him, help him and be demanding of him,” Emery said after Everton.
Martinez added: “We have been trying to help Duran in the Premier League and if he can keep the consistency, he can be a really big threat.
“He can be one of the best strikers in the world, but he needs to keep his feet on the ground and to work hard.”
Praise indeed, and with Ollie Watkins for company, without making a signing Villa now have two threats in front of goal that they so desperately craved. That should stand them in good stead in the months to come.
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