Aston Villa boast one of the strikers in the Premier League.
28-year-old Ollie Watkins is enjoying his best ever campaign in the English top flight, with 19 goals and 12 assists already to his name.
The striker is flourishing under the mentorship of manager Unai Emery and will have been very pleased when the Spaniard signed a new contract recently.
Watkins was unable to score a 20th league goal of the campaign in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Saturday night, but he will surely surpass that landmark in Villa‘s remaining three league fixtures.
There are reports that the Villa Park club are keen to add to their centre-forward options, with Villa said to be frontrunners for Lille’s Jonathan David this summer.
However, Watkins is not the only striker currently at the club, with 20-year-old Jhon Duran also available to Emery.
Given the Colombian plays second fiddle to Watkins, it is a surprise that he leads the Premier League for one intriguing statistic.
Jhon Duran leads Premier League in surprising statistic
Duran arrived at Villa from MLS side Chicago Fire in January 2023 for a fee that could rise up to £18 million with performance-related add-ons.
This represented a record transfer fee received by the American club for a player with huge promise.
What makes this move all the more remarkable is the fact that Duran played just 28 times for Chicago Fire, scoring eight goals and providing six assists according to Transfermarkt.
In 44 games at Villa, the 20-year-old has scored six goals.
Whilst he may not yet be threatening to top the Golden Boot charts like his teammate Watkins, Duran does lead the Premier League in another statistic.
According to data website Fotmob, Duran leads the league for fouls committed per 90 minutes.
The striker averages 2.9 fouls per match, which is 0.2 more than Wolves’ Boubacar Traore in second.
Perhaps this is reflective of the rawness of the centre-forward.
He is an incredibly powerful individual but he will need to learn to harness his strength and play a bit more cleverly when up against top level defenders.
Interestingly, Villa teammate Nicolo Zaniolo is also in the top ten for this metric; the Italian fourth with an average of 2.6 fouls per 90 minutes.
The fact, then, that Duran and Zaniolo have five and seven league yellow cards respectively will not come as a shock.
Does Duran have a future at Aston Villa?
With Watkins the clear first choice centre forward at Villa and Emery tending to opt to play with one conventional striker, where does this leave Duran?
When you throw the potential signing of David into the mix as well, it looks difficult for the man with three league goals this season to get game time.
However, Villa are hoping to be fighting on all fronts next season and a place in the Champions League brings with it the need for a big squad.
It is worth remembering that Duran is just 20 and, all being well, will have a long career ahead of him.
The striker can afford to bide his time and learn off of Watkins whilst continuing his own progression.
Part of that may be up to the player himself, though, as Duran was linked with a surprise move to Chelsea in January.
The fact that Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino specifically sought out the youngster for a hug ahead of kick-off between Villa and Chelsea on Saturday only adding fuel to the fire on this potential move.
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