Jhon Durán chose the funniest time and place for his goal
One of the stranger things about the Premier League is that each season begins in a sort of limbo. The opening and closing of the summer transfer window (it opened on June 14 this year and will close on August 30) does not coincide with the start of the season, meaning each season begins while transfers are being worked on that will significantly alter squads and careers. Each year, teams and players must begin the season and play several games without really knowing for sure what the final squads will look like after deadline day.
This can lead to frustrating results, such as today when Brentford fans woke up to the news that the team’s star player Ivan Toney would not play in the season opener against Crystal Palace because of a pending transfer. But the strange schedule can also lead to really funny moments, like what happened yesterday with Aston Villa’s Jhon Durán.
The 20-year-old Colombian joined Villa midway through the 2022/23 season and has started just three games since then. Seeking more regular game time, Durán has been lobbying for a move away from Villa this summer, with Chelsea and West Ham showing the most concrete interest. Earlier this month, either because he was sure his move to West Ham was imminent or because he wanted to pile on the pressure on Villa, Durán went on Instagram Live and made the Irons gesture linked with West Ham. Villa fans were not particularly happy about this and the team was so angry that announce that disciplinary action will be taken against the striker.
Durán is still waiting to be sold and who would have thought? Aston Villa opened their season at West Ham yesterday. Durán started the game on the bench but was substituted in the second half with the score at 1-1. A few minutes after coming on, Durán scored the winning goal. He then ran towards the home fans, made an apologetic gesture and pointed to the ground as if to say: “I’m staying here.”
But Where will he stay? The match took place at West Ham’s stadium, which raises the possibility that the message Durán wanted to convey to his fans was something like: Hey guys, sorry about all the drama in the off-season. Hopefully this goal will calm things down a bit, but unfortunately I still want to play for West Ham so I’m going to stay here, ok?
Perhaps hoping that Durán would set the record straight, or at least take another opportunity to fire up the Villa fans, a member of the team’s social media team posted himself in the tunnel to snap some shots of Durán entering the winners’ dressing room. After having some time to reflect, Durán was a little less, er, thrilled to have scored the decisive goal:
Aston Villa have one more league game to play before the transfer window closes, perhaps Durán can score a hat-trick in that game and then recreate the Magic Johnson. “I won’t be here” subsequent press conference.