From Champions League breakout star to Saudi – Duran unexpected journey
Jhon Duran breakout season in the Premier League and Champions League came to an abrupt end on Friday. When he sealed a £71m move to Saudi Arabia.
It was an unexpected turn on a rapid trajectory that has taken him from Colombia to Major League Soccer (MLS) to the Premier League and now to Saudi in just six years.
Duran had been one of the young stars of this season, with 12 goals in 29 games for Villa including a stunning 25-yard Champions League winner against Bayern Munich, and a new long-term contract signed in October.
He struggled to dislodge England international Ollie Watkins as Unai Emery’s preferred frontman and was in the starting XI just once as Villa navigated their Champions League group to reach the last 16, and four times in the Premier League.
Now, just over two years since his £18m move from สมัคร ufabet กับเรา รับโบนัสทันที Chicago Fire to Villa Park, the Colombia international will link up with a forward line at Al-Nassr that includes five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane.
“We told him, today he is here in El Dorado fields, tomorrow he could be stepping into the best stadiums in the world and facing the best players in the world,” youth coach Wilberth Perea Mena. Who first met Duran as a 14-year-old at his first club Envigado
“He laughed, but I think that dream has come true.”
Chicago Fire technical director Sebastian Pelzer found Duran, almost by accident. While scouting a team-mate – and said he instantly recognised that he could become a Premier League star.