The inside story on the 'out of this world' asset which Aston Villa have secured

Jhon Duran has signed a new Aston Villa contract - this is his origin story as he continues to set the Premier League and further afield alight

Jhon Duran has signed a new contract with Aston Villa after a summer of uncertainty. The Colombian striker has bagged six goals in 10 appearances so far this season and, after links with West Ham and Chelsea in the summer, has settled back into life in Birmingham. He has now been rewarded with a new and improved - and extensive - deal which runs until the summer of 2030.

The 20-year-old international forward has made a significant impact from the bench in recent weeks, as he waits patiently for his chance in the starting line-up behind first choice Ollie Watkins. Prior to his new deal, we spoke with Ezra Hendrickson, who managed Duran at Chicago Fire in MLS. You can read the full interview below...

The narrative surrounding Jhon Jader Duran this season has been something in which all associated with Aston Villa have marvelled, yet on Wednesday night the young Colombian striker truly announced himself to the European elite. If you knew little of Duran before this season, and you weren't living under a rock, you know all about him now.

It hasn't been a conventional journey to this environment, nor has it been without its bumps along the road. Duran incredibly is still only 20 years old, yet possesses the physical attributes which would turn many number nines around the world an envious shade of green. His goal on Wednesday evening, which prompted raptures within Villa Park, won the day, but it was the audacity to lob the legendary Manuel Neuer which had many purring.

There's more to come, certainly - Duran isn't even starting games routinely for Villa yet - but his talent and potential is unquestionable. It's just as well, then, that Villa, Unai Emery and all concerned chose to ride out the choppy waters in the summer as Duran flirted publicly with Premier League rivals. It's no coincidence, either, that he stayed put - Emery knows a player when he sees one, after all.

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Duran came from over MLS side Chicago Fire in the summer of 2023, as a teenager who spoke little English. The fee was a substantial one, considering Duran's humble beginnings, but not one which made your eyes water in the modern age of football transfers. It did, however, represent what Villa believed they were aquiring. The Fire themselves had spotted him as he played for Envigado in his native Colombia, a renowned footballing talent factory.

"He was scouted before I took the job, but once I got on board and I looked at some of his clips, I knew," Ezra Hendrickson, Duran's boss at Chicago Fire, told BirminghamLive. "His potential was obvious. He came for first-team football, but sometimes when a teenager comes into a situation and environment like that, it's really hard for them to adapt sometimes. It's a different league, a different culture, he'd never really left Colombia before.

"At times, it was difficult for him. There were people back home he was taking care of, who he had to look out for which was putting pressure on him as a youngster. It took him a while, but you could see in training that potential we all felt he had. Eventually, we knew he'd be our number one."

Duran has had to learn things quickly in what is still a fledgling career. Having journey from South America and into the States to play professional football, there was more than just a performance on the pitch required. He must adapt to his new surroundings, and an entirely new way of life, despite having only just turned 18 a couple of weeks before uprooting.

Compare that with young attacking talents in this country, for example, who could grow naturally in their familiar environment, uninterrupted. Wayne Rooney burst onto the scene 20 years ago as a teenager, announcing himself with that famous goal against Arsenal. By 18, he was leading the line for England and slaying opponents almost single handedly at Euro 2004, but he'd done so while settled on Merseyside and with David Moyes' nurturing.

"Let's say the difference with Rooney, for example," Hendrickson explains. "He spoke the language, he is in the culture he grew up in. Even though it's harder for younger players, it's easier at least when you can speak the language, the food is similar - everything he experienced was where he came from.

"All it took from Jhon was having a chat with him, helping him to realise his potential and to see how far he could go if he changed a few things and tried a little harder to adapt to this way of life. Once he did, it was a case of let's get him on the pitch and once we did, his production was tremendous. It's a Catch 22 for a coach, because this player is really developing and producing, but it means the chances of losing him increases.

"You want the best for your players and you want them to reach their potential and to play in the biggest leagues that they can. In the back of your mind, you appreciate what's going on, you love seeing their progress but you know it won't be a long time before he's gone. After six months, he was gone."

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The final weeks of Duran's time at Chicago Fire ended similarly to how much of his time at Villa so far - particularly this season - has played out: that being by plundering goals in clusters. Duran netted five in his final five matches for the Fire, including a brace in a 3-1 win over Inter Miami, who boasted Gonzalo Higuain, Kieran Gibbs and familiar Villa face Indiana Vassilev. Xherdan Shaqiri netted the other for the Fire. It was then time to bid farewell.

Hendrickson, though, believes Duran learned one particularly valuable lesson while he honed his skills in MLS. While in the Windy City he often played second fiddle to fellow forward Kacper Przybylko, who often got the nod ahead of him as an experienced and expensive striker option. Duran would have to make do with cameo appearances.

It wasn't always a plain sailing relationship; while many young forwards who are aware of their abilities might grow restless at the lack of opportunities, sharing the duties of leading the line was a learning curve for the Colombian, something which Hendrickson believes has stood Duran in good stead when you fast forward to the present day and consider his current role in this Villa squad behind Ollie Watkins.

"You saw it in training everyday," he recalls. "He was playing just behind a forward who we'd signed in the previous window and who we'd spent a lot of money on, so we gave him as much of an opportunity to get him adapted, but we knew in the back of our minds that, at any time, we could make the switch, Jhon would be ready, and that's what happened.

"One of things he learned with us, even though at times it was frustrating for him, was patience. He was facing a similar situation, with a top striker ahead of him - an 18-year-old at the time, he maybe didn't understand how it worked and why he wasn't getting as many minutes as he wanted or expected to. It prepared him for a situation like this. He isn't playing behind just anybody - it's a top English striker.

"What you see, as far as his production, having to wait his turn in MLS prepared him. When he is on the pitch, he's like 'you know what? I'm going to keep proving myself, keep scoring goals until I become the top man'. When you have the framework to draw from, it helps you, especially as a young player. It's not very easy for a young player who has the potential and talent and knows it, to have that patience.

"This generation, everything is now. Sometimes the players don't see the waiting process. They don't see how it works. Jhon has had enough of it now that he understands his time will come, and to be ready. One thing I always used to tell him was when you step on the pitch, you prove the coach wrong. Prove to the coach that I need to be starting.

"I've seen too many players who aren't playing much and instead of working harder, they just complain and complain. They fail. They prove to the coach there's a reason you're on the bench. I always told Jhon to always be prepared and prepare as if you're starting. Watch from the bench to see what the defenders are like. See how you can exploit them when you get your chance."

Duran did create ripples this summer, when he was quoted by the press back in his native Colombia, suggesting he was enamoured by the speculation linking him with a move away from Villa and to Premier League rivals, and that he hoped a move would materialise. By the time pre-season rolled around, it was becoming increasingly likely that Duran would be staying put. Competitors didn't appear to want to match Villa's well founded valuation.

The goal on the opening day of the season, the winner at West Ham - a side he might've ended up joining in a parallel universe - was key. There was almost an apologetic nature to Duran's celebrations as he fired Villa in front late on, in front of the away end. That winner acted as an olive branch and the ties between player and fanbase have been repaired and are growing stronger with each goal Duran produces from the bench.

Defenders perhaps aren't as fortunate. They don't possess the capability to build bridges in the same scenario. They are more at risk of mistakes leading to goals and so relationships with supporters are perhaps more temperamental. Goals are what fans pay money for. If goals were a currency, Duran, with a strike rate such as his, would be a rich man right now.

"He just needs someone who can put an arm around him. Some young players you can be harsh with them, but Jhon is actually kind of a shy guy," Hendrickson reveals. "It takes a while for him to open up and trust people. As a coach I had to be patient with him. There were many meetings in my office about things that needed to change! I knew he was young, he was an 18-year-old man who just needed some guidance and maturity, on and off the field.

"The first 57 minutes he played in MLS he had four yellow cards. Some of that stuff we had to work on and talk about. You could see him growing into a full professional, and what it would take as far as his demeanour around his teammates, towards assistant coaches. Stuff needed to change and he picked up on it quite fast.

"That potential, once he got those training habits down, what you're seeing at Aston Villa as far as his production, even with the limited minutes he gets, it's something we expected and knew would happen."

No longer is MLS a retirement village for high profile footballers on the continent who make their way across the Atlantic for high quality of life and a final pay cheque. You may still find the likes of Lionel Messi, at the back end of his career, performing in the States, but the general quality of football has increased exponentially since the days of David Beckham moving to L.A.

Hendrickson, who is now back in the Caribbean from which he originates, spent six years playing regularly for the Galaxy prior to Beckham's arrival. He also played for Columbus Crew and D.C. United as well as coaching Galaxy, Seattle Sounders and then, latterly, the Fire. He has witnessed an undeniable growth in the game in the US, which now must be considered a strong barometer of a player's ability.

Duran, even in the short period of time he spent in Chicago, learned plenty about what it takes to become a professional footballer and, specifically, an archetypal number nine who leads the line. Whereas before players would end their careers in MLS, now Hendrickson is of the belief that it's a destination for younger players to ready themselves for a tilt abroad.

"The league has grown so much, even from when I played and even since the days of Beckham," he says. "It's become so much more competitive and better of a league, the level of players has grown tremendously. For a guy like Jhon, it was a good preparation because of what he was going to face going into a league like the Premier League. If MLS was just a kickabout for him, and everything came easy, I don't think he would've been so ready.

"When I watch him play for Aston Villa, he's coming up against some top defenders. He's scoring goals against top teams, Liverpool and teams like that. The jump from MLS...he was prepared for that. Right now he's behind a top striker at Aston Villa and it's hard for him to get minutes, but you see what he does when he gets minutes - he produces. He's a very efficient forward."

Efficient indeed. Duran, after downing Munich, has six goals in nine appearances this season. He has scored 14 goals in 11 starts for the club all in, with most of his appearances coming as a substitute later in games. Duran, as he lines up on the touchline and receives instructions from Unai Emery these days, is becoming a sight defenders dread after they've been run ragged by Watkins. That all said, Hendrickson expects even more to come.

"He's fast," Hendrickson assesses. "He has a left foot which is out of this world. He's good in the air. He's very strong. He has all the attributes of a prototype nine. I think it's a matter of time before we see him excel to that level. His ceiling is very high and I expect a lot from him going forward.

"I'm very happy for him. I watch his games and I like seeing that he scores. He's a good kid. He loves to win. He works really hard. With that talent, when you work hard, you're going to be successful."

Boy, didn't Bayern Munich discover that to their detriment.

What have you made of Duran's season? Have your say HERE

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