Emery Commits To Keeping Jhon Duran At Villa Amidst Exit Talks

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Unai Emery has expressed his desire to retain Jhon Duran amid transfer rumours following Duran's decisive goal in Aston Villa's 2-1 win over West Ham. Duran netted the winner in the 79th minute, after Lucas Paqueta's penalty had cancelled out Amadou Onana's early goal. This marked Duran's sixth Premier League goal in just 616 minutes, averaging a goal every 103 minutes, second only to Erling Haaland among players with more than five goals.

Despite speculation linking him to West Ham earlier this summer, Duran remains at Villa Park. Emery is keen to keep him but acknowledges that a good offer could change that. "We were open with every player to accept a good offer and one of those players is him. But we know how much we believe in him and if he leaves it's because the offer is very good, but I want to keep him," Emery told the media. "We believe in Duran and in his potential."

Emery also discussed other potential transfers, indicating that Alex Moreno might be the most likely left-back to leave this summer. Moreno, who joined in January 2023, seems to be behind Lucas Digne and new signing Ian Maatsen in the pecking order. Nottingham Forest is reportedly interested in Moreno. "We signed Ian Maatsen and we were speaking with different players in this position. The difficulty is to manage with three left-backs. Moreno is the player who is now close to leaving," he explained.

Debutant Amadou Onana scored Villa's first goal and impressed Emery with his performance. However, Emery noted that there is still much adaptation needed for Onana. "There's still a lot of adaptation ahead, in training and in matches. Today it was his first official match with us. He was very mature, responsible and intelligent," said Emery. "I think this is the first step we need."

Aston Villa ended a poor run against West Ham by securing their first away win in nine encounters at the London Stadium. Despite West Ham having superior expected goals (2.4), Emery felt his team deserved the victory due to their control of the game, especially in the first half. "The first 30 minutes were very good. We were in control of the game, with good positioning," he reflected.

Villa didn't concede a corner until the 28th minute and had opportunities to extend their lead when Leon Bailey hit the post. Although West Ham equalised through Paqueta's penalty, Villa regained control in the second half and secured a deserved win.

Onana’s header was notable as it matched Kevin Phillips' record for Aston Villa’s earliest Premier League debut goal since August 2005 against Bolton Wanderers.

Emery praised Duran for his contribution and reiterated his commitment to working with him if he continues performing well for the team: "We are always open to working with him if he's like he is today, helping the team and he was fantastic."

The victory against West Ham highlighted Aston Villa's resilience and tactical discipline under Emery’s guidance.