Jhon Duran praised for 'improved' attitude after latest Aston Villa winner
John McGinn believes an improved attitude is helping Jhon Duran display his “world class” potential after the striker was Villa’s match-winner at Leicester.
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Duran came off the bench to net the decisive goal for the second time this season as Unai Emery’s team made it two wins from three Premier League matches with a 2-1 victory at the King Power Stadium.
The 20-year-old looked likely to leave the club at several points during the summer and upset supporters when he appeared to be publicly pushing for a move to West Ham.
But club captain McGinn, who himself questioned some of Duran’s behaviour last season, claims the forward has arrived back at Villa with renewed focus and is now eager for him to keep delivering more of the same.
McGinn said: “I was quite hard on Jhon last season after one of the games in an interview, just about his attitude and how he can improve that, but in all fairness I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
“I think the coaching staff and players have been pleasantly surprised too about how he has handled it all.
“He’s an Aston Villa player. He’s trained really well. He has all the attributes to be a world class striker and we’re seeing glimpses of it now. It’s credit to him for being focused. If you come and watch training now, he’s focused and he’s sharp and ready to go. Hopefully, we can see more of that and it’s up to us, as players, to make sure he keeps going in the same vein.”
Duran, understood to be frustrated at playing second fiddle to Ollie Watkins, was courted by both Chelsea and West Ham at various points of the window but neither club were prepared to match Villa’s £40million valuation.
Emery has previously described the striker’s potential as “limitless” and McGinn hopes he has found the balance which will ensure he fulfils it.
“Maybe the penny has dropped for him,” added the skipper. “He’ll get his opportunities, chances and his goals and even his attitude off the pitch. The way he is around people, around the staff – it has improved a lot – and it’s great to see. We don’t want to see him lose his character, his sense of fun – we don’t want him to lose that – but it’s about doing it at the right times and hopefully he’s found that.”
Duran’s goal put Villa 2-0 up after Amadou Onana had opened the scoring, Facundo Buonanotte pulling one back for the hosts.
