THERE is a sense of inevitability about Jhon Duran. The Aston Villa striker has scored six goals across all competitions this season, with five of them coming off the bench. Opposition defences shudder with fear as they see the 20-year-old preparing to enter as a substitute, and with good reason, as they very quickly come undone at the hands of Duran.

The Colombian international has been in scintillating form for Unai Emery’s side this season, netting as many goals in his 10 appearances this term as he managed in his previous 33 games for the Villans (six). And it’s strange to think just how differently things could have panned out. The forward was linked with a move away from Villa Park for most of the summer after becoming disgruntled with his playing time in the Midlands, with West Ham appearing to be his most likely destination.

Duran, however, has quickly put those rumours to bed, scoring several goals and being rewarded with a bumper new deal by the club earlier this month. Though there’s a growing feeling that the 20-year-old’s goalscoring form cannot be ignored for much longer. He has started just one game for Villa this season – a 2-1 away win at Wycombe Wanderers in the third round of the Carabao Cup. The striker has scored 14 goals for the Midlands side, despite making just 11 starts since his switch from Chicago Fire in January 2023.

This isn’t anything new for the prolific forward, mind. Across his Villa league career, he has started just three of his 42 appearances, while since his competition debut in February 2023, he has made more sub appearances than any other player (39). That’s over twice as many occasions as any other Villa player (Leon Bailey next most with 18).

What sets Duran apart is his ability to be so effective in such limited game time. The Colombian ranks second all-time for minutes per goal among players to have notched five or more Premier League strikes (86), behind only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (82).

While the importance of his goals should not be understated either. The 20-year-old’s goal tally from this season includes winners against West Ham, Everton and Wolves, alongside THAT strike against Bayern Munich in Villa’s Champions League success earlier this month. In fact, Duran’s winning goals in three separate Premier League games this term is already the joint-most of any player across a single campaign in the competition.

He has proved to be a constant nuisance to opposition defences, varying his runs as his markers begin to tire towards the end of the game. He averages just over 43 touches per goal, highlighting just how efficient he can be in Emery’s attack. Indeed, only two players in Premier League recorded history (since 2006-07) have averaged fewer touches per goal – Adam Le Fondre (40) and Haaland (23).

Question marks do remain over whether Duran would be as effective starting from the off, especially when Emery boasts one of the most clinical No9’s in the Premier League in Ollie Watkins.

Additionally, the possibility of the two starting alongside one another has also been posed, to which the Villa manager was coy. He said: “He (Duran) is close to being in the starting XI and he has to understand as well how he can play with Ollie Watkins, both in the starting XI, but also sometimes alone in different competitions.

Emery’s hesitance is somewhat understandable. Among players to have scored seven or more Premier League goals, only Matt Derbyshire (90% – 9/10) has seen a higher share come as a substitute than Duran (86% – 6/7).

Duran, meanwhile, was up to his old tricks during the international break, coming off the bench to score during Colombia’s 4-0 defeat of Chile in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying. And Villa will hope he continues in much the same vein, and Duran records many more goals on film.