Aston Villa target “incredible” Duran replacement to provide Watkins backup

According to reports, Jhon Duran may depart Aston Villa during the summer season after the team indicated it would consider bids. The Daily Mail claims that Duran and manager Unai Emery haven’t always agreed, especially after Duran has been substituted in a few games.

Villa may be willing to let him go because of this, given that Serie A powerhouse AC Milan is interested in him. However, they need to find a suitable successor first. Even though Ollie Watkins is still preferred, Duran has nevertheless appeared in 21 games this season, starting five cup competition matches and coming off the bench 13 times in the Premier League. Villa has a vacancy to fill.

Iheanacho could replace Duran

According to Wayne Veysey of Football Insider, Emery considers finding a new forward to be “the top priority” and claims that Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City is “among the targets”.

Villa intends to sell players or loan them out in order to make room in the squad. Ideally, they will then bring in two new first-team players before the transfer window closes.Timo Werner of RB Leipzig was also suggested as a possible addition, but according to Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany, the Spurs are getting close to signing that player.

Iheanacho could be Villa’s Firmino

After breaking through at Manchester City and hitting 21 goals in 64 appearances for the club, Pep Guardiola sold Iheanacho to Leicester in 2017 for a fee of £25m. He’s gone on to score 61 times and set up 35 more in his 227 games for the Foxes, with Guardiola celebrating his “incredible” progress back in 2021.

In the Championship this year, Iheanacho has been directly involved in eight goals (six scored, two assisted), but he’s been in and out of Enzo Maresca’s team in the league, starting only ten of their games up to this point. Significantly, he’s out of contract at the end of the season, so suitors like Villa may spy an opportunity to either sign him on a cut-price deal now or wait until the summer to snap him up on a free transfer.

When assessing Iheanacho, the big attraction is his all-round game. While his goalscoring numbers at the King Power Stadium are respectable, his contribution extends far beyond that. When compared to positional peers in similar leagues over the last 365 days (as per FBref), Iheanacho ranks in the 92nd percentile for expected assisted goals per 90 minutes (0.2), which points to his effectiveness as a creator.

Most remarkably, his passes attempted (35.2) are in the 98th percentile, indicating how frequently he plays link-up football. He also has excellent results for progressive passes (77th percentile; 2.2) and progressive carries (83rd; 1.8). This demonstrates to us the Nigerian’s skill at receiving the ball deep and moving his team up the pitch.

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