Aston Villa will be looking to pile on the Manchester City misery when the two sides face off in the Premier League this coming weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s men are going through an unusual crisis at this moment in time, with eight defeats picked up from their last 11 outings in all competitions, as Unai Emery’s men now wait eagerly to try to add insult to injury by inflicting another loss onto the reigning top-flight champions just before Christmas.
Emery will likely stick with Jhon Duran as the lone striker for this big clash at Villa Park, safe in the knowledge that the potent Colombian could cause the leaky Man City defence all sorts of bother.
Duran's continued Villa heroics
After all, the Villa hotshot has started his side’s last two Premier League clashes after only being utilised as an impact man off the substitutes bench prior.
He has justified those starts, with two goals picked up from his last two top-flight contests, which included this consolation header finding the back of the net last time out in a slender 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
As is stated above, that took Duran’s goal total for the season all the way up to 11, as Ollie Watkins begins to worry his once concrete first team spot is no longer so solid with the clinical 21-year-old around.
Amazingly, despite the ex-Chicago Fire striker’s value increasing all the way up to £33m off the back of these heroics – as per Transfermarkt – one former Villa man’s value stands higher than that right now, despite failing to settle in his fresh environment.
The former Aston Villa man now worth more than Duran
The player in question here is Douglas Luiz, who sealed a move away from the Villans this summer when Serie A giants Juventus forked out in the region of £42m to land his services.
Arsenal were also known admirers at one point looking at the Brazilian, but Thiago Motta’s men would be the side to cough up that sizeable fee in the end, after he had become a reliable mainstay at Villa.
He would instantly fit in at Villa Park after a spell in Spain with Girona, with three goals and three assists picked up as a daring midfield option during his debut season on English shores.
The 18-time senior Brazil international would only get better from this point on, with a further 19 goals and 17 assists accumulated across his lengthy 204 game stay in the West Midlands, as Emery even singled out the star as being “amazing” last year when rumours begin to circulate he could leave Villa behind.
“Douglas is playing very good. He’s improved a lot, his commitment is amazing. I am very happy with him, and I want to keep him, of course.
“I think he’s happy with us. He’s coming on with his national team. And his performance like today was amazing, fantastic. I want him.”
Yet, despite the Spaniard waxing lyrical, Emery would have to deal with the heartbreak of losing his midfield ace when Juventus eventually came calling.
Now, with hindsight a very fine thing, Luiz should have stayed put at a club that clearly adored him, as he’s found his transition to playing in Turn extremely choppy.
Stat – per 90 mins*
Luiz
Games played
8
Games started
2
Minutes averaged*
37 mins
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Big chances missed
1
Big chances created
2
Ball recoveries*
1.8
Total duels won*
2.6
Stats by Sofascore
Only starting two games for Juventus in league action so far, it’s clear from the table above the high standards Luiz was playing to at Villa have now escaped him, with injuries also troubling him in Italy to date.
Villa are the clear winners here overall, having banked that £42m wisely, with the likes of Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana all also shining in central midfield in their former star-man’s absence.
The South American’s value still stands high above even Duran at the £37m mark, so not all hope will be lost that he can return to his tenacious best soon for Juventus, but he certainly would have envisaged the start of his career at the Old Lady to have gone smoother.
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