What Aston Villa's Unai Emery has 'probably' told Jhon Duran about game time as exciting prediction made

Today at 01:15 PM

Things are going pretty well at Aston Villa this season, both on the pitch and off it.

The Villans have had a solid start to the Premier League season and remain firmly in the top-four picture, as well as progressing in the Carabao Cup.

Villa are also flying high in the Champions League, having recently recorded another historic win over Bayern Munich.

Furthermore, the Villans have also done well on the contract front over the past few days, tying down one first-teamer and two academy stars.

The big news on this front is that of Jhon Duran’s new contract, as Villa announced on Monday that the 20-year-old has penned a new deal until 2030.

Duran was heavily linked with a move away from Villa Park over the summer, but he stayed put and has since gone from strength to strength.

The Colombia international is not starting regularly for the Villans just yet, but Darren Bent has spoken about what Emery has “probably” said to the player.

Darren Bent believes Jhon Duran has been told he’ll get minutes at Aston Villa but must be patient

Bent, speaking on talkSPORT (8/10/2024, 4:43pm), believes Emery is likely to have told Duran to “just be patient” because he “will get minutes on the pitch”.

The former Villa forward also believes Emery will have told Duran that he can’t play him in a front two, because Morgan Rogers can’t be taken out of the XI.

Bent concluded by predicting that Duran “will still make 30 appearances minimum”, which will be enough time for him to score 15 goals this term.

"I do think Unai Emery has probably said to him, listen, you are going to get minutes, right, I know you want to start games,” said Bent. “And Jhon Duran will understand that.

“He will be thinking in his head, Jhon Duran, why can't you play a two?

“And Unai Emery is probably thinking, you know I can't play a two, look how well we are playing, Morgan Rogers has been brilliant, you can't take him out.

“He is probably going to say to him, just be patient, you will get minutes on the pitch.

“He will still make 30 appearances minimum this season, and that will still be enough time for him to get 15 goals."

This week, Villa also announced that academy midfielder Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba and full-back Triston Rowe have penned new long-terms contracts with the club.

READ MORE: Aston Villa wanted £33m forward who's 'one of the top 10 players in Europe'

Villa made the right call

Football isn't always about what happens on and off the pitch, but what doesn't happen. There are plenty of “what ifs” over the course of the history of the professional game.

For instance, what if Robert Lewandowski signed for Blackburn Rovers from Lech Poznan in 2010? What if Spurs offloaded Gareth Bale after his difficult start to life at N17? What if Bernd Leno didn’t get injured for Arsenal in 2020?

With regards to Duran’s situation over the sumer, Villa made the right call. The 'what if?' in this case – Duran leaving – may well have deprived the Villans of their historic win over Bayern.

At just 20 years of age, Duran is already showing world-class quality, and it's frightening to think how good he can become over the coming years.