DEAR JHON
Despite Aston Villa’s twin-engine strike force being linked with moves elsewhere just over a year ago, Unai Emery was dreaming of a dynasty. “Hopefully we can be together with Ollie Watkins and Jhon Durán for 10 years,” he told reporters with the optimistic tone of a man who hadn’t yet checked the young Colombian’s WhatsApp status. “Maybe 12 years, maybe 15!” Despite interest at the time from Arsenal, Watkins remains at Villa but his considerably younger former teammate has just forced a move to his third club in three different time zones since leaving Birmingham. Of course, it’s no secret that he has form in the itchy feet department, as Villa fans who remember his ill-advised crossed-arms ‘Irons’ pose on a live Social Media Disgrace feed before a move to West Ham that never materialised will attest.
Eager to worm his way back into the good books of denizens of the Holte End after that particular debacle, Durán proceeded to do exactly that by scoring 12 goals in 27 appearances, a tally that included several absolute worldies and earned him a £64m move to Saudi club Al-Nassr. Described a tad euphemistically as “a lively kid” by his former teammate Amadou Onana, and a “bit nuts … a nightmare to have in your team sometimes” by straight talking’s John McGinn, Durán had a reputation for being something of a maverick and chilled-out entertainer whose attitude to timekeeping, on-field pressing and being behind Watkins in the Villa pecking order left a lot to be desired. His move to Al-Nassr, from whom he is understood to trouser £355,000 per week, was cited as being indicative of a lack of ambition by a young player who decided to choose money ahead of legacy, albeit by the kind of sanctimonious folk who almost certainly wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if he’d gone to West ham instead.
Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Durán lasted just six months at Al-Nassr before being shipped out to Fenerbahce on loan, but his short spell on the banks of the Bosphorus have been less than prosperous from a footballing perspective. Still just 22, Durán has now terminated his loan deal with the Süper Lig side with whom he scored just five goals and is currently winging his way to northwest Russia. Despite interest from Tottenham and Lille, who proved unwilling or unable to meet his astronomical salary demands, Durán has joined Zenit St Petersburg for another short-term loan. Between playing in MLS, moving to the Saudi Pro League, being linked with West Ham and now wrangling himself a spell in the Russian top flight, Durán seems to be inexplicably drawn to footballing backwaters. Now set to play in his sixth country across four different continents before the age of 23, the young journeyman is truly putting the “mad” into nomad. And while his professional ambition may be questionable, he is comfortably top of the table for accumulated air miles, cut-price duty-free booze and giant Toblerones.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s done very deliberately to highlight that every minute matters after a cardiac arrest. Every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, your chances of surviving decreases by 10%. It’s brilliant to raise awareness, it strikes up conversation and, ultimately, it’s going to help us get more people trained up” – Bristol Rovers’ Tom Lockyer urges fans to learn lifesaving CPR techniques as he promotes the Every Minute Matters campaign, which the EFL is supporting by moving back all kick-off times by 60 seconds this weekend.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Football Daily gave me a great idea (imagine that!) in yesterday’s Quote of the Day. In every article and letter that you publish, let’s declare the main participant’s age, as of James Milner’s top-flight debut in 2002. I feel like I could learn a lot about Noble Francis and the other regulars like this” – Mike Wilner (Milner +36).
I was at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco last weekend for the Manet & Morisot exhibition when I saw a fellow museum-goer wearing a Manchester City scarf, but looking distinguished otherwise. I was tempted to ask him what he was doing there because the Monet exhibition isn’t until next month” – Peter Oh.
From ‘Leicester is like my son, so I have to do it right’ to ‘Leicester in relegation danger after six-point deduction for financial rules breach’. Well, ‘a week is a long time in
politicsfootball’, as former UK prime minister Harold Wilson would have said, if he were still alive and interested in East Midlands-based football (which he wasn’t, he was a Huddersfield fan)” – Noble Francis.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Noble Francis. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
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