Villa, Al-Nassr, Fenerbahce, Zenit: does Jhon Durán have football’s itchiest feet?

06 Feb, 16:32. UK edition

Jhon Durán's Fenerbahce shirt — Jhon Durán, last seen at Fenerbahce, is going to have another new shirt to add to his collection. Photograph: Burak Kara/Uefa/Getty Images

In today’s Football Daily: Jhon Durán collects yet more air miles

DEAR JHON

Despite Aston Villa’s twin-engine strike force being linked with moves elsewhere just over a year ago, Unai Emery was dreaming of a dynasty. “Hopefully we can be together with Ollie Watkins and Jhon Durán for 10 years,” he told reporters with the optimistic tone of a man who hadn’t yet checked the young Colombian’s WhatsApp status. “Maybe 12 years, maybe 15!” Despite interest at the time from Arsenal, Watkins remains at Villa but his considerably younger former teammate has just forced a move to his third club in three different time zones since leaving Birmingham. Of course, it’s no secret that he has form in the itchy feet department, as Villa fans who remember his ill-advised crossed-arms ‘Irons’ pose on a live Social Media Disgrace feed before a move to West Ham that never materialised will attest.

Eager to worm his way back into the good books of denizens of the Holte End after that particular debacle, Durán proceeded to do exactly that by scoring 12 goals in 27 appearances, a tally that included several absolute worldies and earned him a £64m move to Saudi club Al-Nassr. Described a tad euphemistically as “a lively kid” by his former teammate Amadou Onana, and a “bit nuts … a nightmare to have in your team sometimes” by straight talking’s John McGinn, Durán had a reputation for being something of a maverick and chilled-out entertainer whose attitude to timekeeping, on-field pressing and being behind Watkins in the Villa pecking order left a lot to be desired. His move to Al-Nassr, from whom he is understood to trouser £355,000 per week, was cited as being indicative of a lack of ambition by a young player who decided to choose money ahead of legacy, albeit by the kind of sanctimonious folk who almost certainly wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if he’d gone to West ham instead.

Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Durán lasted just six months at Al-Nassr before being shipped out to Fenerbahce on loan, but his short spell on the banks of the Bosphorus have been less than prosperous from a footballing perspective. Still just 22, Durán has now terminated his loan deal with the Süper Lig side with whom he scored just five goals and is currently winging his way to northwest Russia. Despite interest from Tottenham and Lille, who proved unwilling or unable to meet his astronomical salary demands, Durán has joined Zenit St Petersburg for another short-term loan. Between playing in MLS, moving to the Saudi Pro League, being linked with West Ham and now wrangling himself a spell in the Russian top flight, Durán seems to be inexplicably drawn to footballing backwaters. Now set to play in his sixth country across four different continents before the age of 23, the young journeyman is truly putting the “mad” into nomad. And while his professional ambition may be questionable, he is comfortably top of the table for accumulated air miles, cut-price duty-free booze and giant Toblerones.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It’s done very deliberately to highlight that every minute matters after a cardiac arrest. Every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, your chances of surviving decreases by 10%. It’s brilliant to raise awareness, it strikes up conversation and, ultimately, it’s going to help us get more people trained up” – Bristol Rovers’ Tom Lockyer urges fans to learn lifesaving CPR techniques as he promotes the Every Minute Matters campaign, which the EFL is supporting by moving back all kick-off times by 60 seconds this weekend.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

Football Daily gave me a great idea (imagine that!) in yesterday’s Quote of the Day. In every article and letter that you publish, let’s declare the main participant’s age, as of James Milner’s top-flight debut in 2002. I feel like I could learn a lot about Noble Francis and the other regulars like this” – Mike Wilner (Milner +36).

I was at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco last weekend for the Manet & Morisot exhibition when I saw a fellow museum-goer wearing a Manchester City scarf, but looking distinguished otherwise. I was tempted to ask him what he was doing there because the Monet exhibition isn’t until next month” – Peter Oh.

From ‘Leicester is like my son, so I have to do it right’ to ‘Leicester in relegation danger after six-point deduction for financial rules breach’. Well, ‘a week is a long time in ~~politics~~ football’, as former UK prime minister Harold Wilson would have said, if he were still alive and interested in East Midlands-based football (which he wasn’t, he was a Huddersfield fan)” – Noble Francis.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Noble Francis. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

HOLLOWAY V THE MACHINES

Ian Holloway has renewed his war on “horrible computers” after his Swindon Town side were thrown out of the Sherpa Vans Trophy by the English Football League owing to an administrative error. The League Two club fielded two ineligible players in last month’s victory against Luton – Ollie Clarke, who was serving a ban for some on-pitch naughtiness, and Aaron Drinan, who was not named on the team sheet – and at the time Holloway acknowledged it was a “major whoopsie”. Luton have now been reinstated into the competition and will face Plymouth in the quarter-finals.

Asked about the EFL’s decision at his press conference on Friday, Holloway’s answer to the opening question was just the 14 minutes long. Last week, responding to football authorities, the 62-year-old referenced “horrible computers that will take over the world”. On Friday he added: “Have you seen me with a computer? Oh my god ... Can you turn that on for me? I mean, it’s just not me. I’ve watched The Terminator – I’m scared of them. I have seen some things this season where I am even more determined to be who I am, and I stand up for the people without a voice, and I believe that I have done that now.”

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Leicester are suddenly in Championship relegation bother after being docked six points for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules. Yikes!

Arne Slot reckons that if any more Liverpool players become victims of knack then recovering to finish the season strongly will become a “hell of a challenge”.

Quiz time! Which striker does Pep Guardiola think is the world’s best? A) Kieffer Moore, B) Niclas Füllkrug, C) Erling Haaland. Spoiler alert: “Erling is the best striker in the world,” he cooed before the trip to Anfield on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta has told Liam Rosenior that he’s sorry if he feels that Arsenal disrespected Chelsea in the Fizzy Cup semi by encroaching into their half during the warm up. “It is very common in football,” he blathered. “If at any point, if one of the staff members did that, we apologise. With the keepers they need to kick long balls.”

David Moyes says Dwight McNeill “is fine” despite a move to Crystal Palace falling through at the last hour. “He’s in and he’s training as well so Dwight’s OK. We understand exactly where it went wrong, how it broke down,” he said. “Let me tell you 100% it had nothing to do with Everton Football Club.”

And Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is still only 32 (one for you, Mike Wilner) and is now even closer to joining Celtic than he was in yesterday’s news, bits and bobs.

STILL WANT MORE?

Ten things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend. Get into them!

Three years on: what is the latest with Premier League charges against Manchester City? By Paul MacInnes.

“I enjoy the Championship”: Burnley fans tell Will Unwin that they’re staying positive as relegation looms.

And who’s in the groove? Xavi Simons baby, whoops David Hytner.

Chinese football returns against backdrop of bans, crackdowns and confusion, reports John Duerden.