Talent wise I like him, but as far as I know his personality is a bit divisive. If I'm honest, if we could get 25-30m for him and get someone else who's more attuned to the squad mentality it wouldn't be a bad thing.
It feels similar to the Chuckwameka, situation where he's had people in his ear growing up telling him how great he is and he's got an ego as a result. No one is ever more important than the club.
20-25m for Duran is highway robbery. You may as well just give him away lol. He was worth 18m before proving what his talent is capable of in Europe and in the PL against the likes of Liverpool. Sheesh.
What do you think he’s realistically worth? Just because Lange overpaid to bring in a MLS striker with a decentish half season behind him doesn’t mean much. Archer who is a hg talent was valued around 20-25m.
Highway robbery? He hasn't done anything. What's he proven? That he can have the ball deflect off him and go in against Liverpool? That he can score against Hibs?
Jeez, I know we tend to overrate our own but to suggest he's "proven" anything is baffling. He could still end up playing for some mid table French side for all we know.
problem for me is he has only eve looked good from the bench, anonymous if starting. These season he 'should' get more games but i don't think Emery trusts him yet.
The Chuckwameka hate is so weird. He's a Chelsea fan, earning way more than he would here and would have gotten way more playing time at Chelsea had he not been injured.
And let's be realistic, Chelsea still have a much higher chance of fighting for titles and UCLs than we do in the next 5 or so years as funny as they have been lately.
Why do they have a greater chance than us in the next 5 years? Are you expecting our decline into mid-table mediocrity? Can we not build on our position and stabilise to become regular challengers?
Money, pulling power, the fact they always seem to bounce back, European and Premier League winning experience, the fact that our best season in decades is finishing 5 points above their complete "disaster" of a season.
The top 8 is ridiculously competitive now, anyone who thinks we're going to cement our place in the top 4 is living in la la land.
Yeah it's going to be challenging. And I did mean we should be challenging for the top 4, certainly not presuming we'll automatically achieve it, but Chelsea will also be having to battle with the rest of the contenders... they're not guaranteed top 4 just because they turned their season around.
It's not la la land to be optimistic about what is potentially the start of a great era.
I'm not saying they're guarenteed top 4, I'm saying they're more likely to be up there challenging than we are. They're the "Big 6" for a reason, it's because they have resources we can only dream of right now.
The league is all about money, and those entrenched at the top for decades will always have more of it that teams like us.
I don’t hate him…I have just forgotten about him. We got insane money for someone we tried to keep but not much loss when he’s gone. Fair play to him, but looks like we won that one by considerable distance
I read some rumours in the past few weeks that he had some disciplinary hearing at the cllub as a result of trashing his rented accommodation the club provided.
I'm not sure if that's true or not but the fact I wasn't surprised after I read it probably tells you what I think about him, seems like a real loose cannon to put it mildly.
I think he has all the tools to be a top player but he might not get there if he doesn't focus himself, he's now at a CL club with one of the best coaches in Europe and if he's not following Emerys advice to be patient and work on his game then he's an easy sell for me.
I grew up in the time of Asprilla...who lost the deposit by firing a gun in his club provided home!
A young lad wrecking a flat is a bit pathetic but it's not the end of the world. He can certainly pay for whatever damage was done.
Sometimes a bit of madness is good if he brings it to the pitch
Literally just placed an order for a custom Duran jersey from DHGate so naturally he’ll be signing to play elsewhere the day before my shirts delivered.
How do you find villa stuff on there? Searched "Villa" "Aston Villa" "Aston Villa 2025" and it says nothing found.
Even searching Google for DH Gate football shirts, clicking the link shows 0 results on their website
Could be a location thing but I searched Aston Villa 24-25. I’ve never used the site before and also bought a Packers jersey so I’ll try to update when I get my stuff!
https://preview.redd.it/xvt8eptcul3d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8af38cd114b9c86c8fc49dd95e0273ce8b60dd4
Do we still have Deano's "no dickheads' policy? He's a Balotelli 2.0 in training, car smash going to the game the one evening. rental accommodation ruined. not a good listener or taker on of direction. naah
If Duran plus a few fringe sales means we keep our spine players - im all for it.
Let's not be too hasty. He's a kid, overseas and earning silly money. He's clearly making mistakes, but he's one of the players I'm most excited about going forward.
I feel like there needs to be a paradigm shift in his approach off the pitch for him if he's going to be a long term villa player. He clearly thinks he should be playing every week which honestly isn't a problem - it's great to have that kind of self belief - but when the player keeping you out of the team is playing as well as Watkins has been since Emery took over, you kind of have to accept that he's going to continue getting picked.
Talent-wise, I'm sure he could be a good player for us, but he needs to be playing regularly otherwise the same gripes are going to resurface wherever he goes, and honestly that's not going to be at Chelsea. I also wonder whether he's as interested now with Poch gone?
It all seems like the agent wanting an extra payday. Not really fussed about what players do on social media, and a hug is just a hug. Not seen anything suggesting Durén himself actually wants out so unless Chelsea cough up something, I'm not expecting him to go anywhere. Will be good to see how well he continues to develop with us.
Yeah pretty much this some of our fanbase are so radical, “Duran made a social media post and it contained the letter C so obviously he hates everyone at villa and wants to move to Chelsea” it’s mental
It's not going to be a "we both did well" transfer. The guy will either be a phenom and we look stupid...or we will see his name in 10 years playing in Cyprus and wondering how we got so much.
If Chelsea want to offer silly money (and remember it's a new manager soon), then I would be tempted. However, I'm curious to what he can do given a run in the team...
No way he should be up for sale in my eyes. Sometimes you need a bit of a maverick to throw in and cause some chaos - and he's perfect for that whilst scoring some absolute thunderbastards. I'd feel a bit differently if he was our main striker, but he's perfect for our backup role. And hopefully the calmness within the squad rubs off on him as he matures.
Our formation and Emery's willingness to give Watkins so much game time makes it extremely difficult to be the 2nd or 3rd striker. It must be the hardest position in the club to keep them happy. If Duran goes, whoever sat in that role would end up feeling the same I'm sure. We never play 442 and Watkins has been immune to injury.
I like him, would love him to stay, but he'll be feeding on scraps again I'm sure. There's not even a 3rd round League Cup game for him next year.
He’s not gunna knock Watkins off his perch anytime soon and that could lead to problems. Great talent, could become a great player but has balotelli vibes too. Would prefer to sell maybe with some big clauses just in case he blows up. Replace with someone that can play more than one position
I could see him leaving this summer, especially if a decent bid comes in. I can't see him getting ahead of Watkins any time soon, and if Chelsea goes splashing the cash again, I wouldn't lose sleep about losing him. I think there are better options out there.
If there's any truth to the Gallacher rumours, it wouldn't shock me if he's part of the deal.
Wouldn't hate that to be honest. Gallagher is so bloody stable you could build your house on him and we need that at times.
I like Duran despite his issues, but he's not starting over Watkins any time soon and I feel that will just allow him to stay raw and unpolished, which is no bad thing at times, but when you play the system we do everyone has to be on board.
He can become a decent player one day, but if you compare him to world class players when they were his age, Håland, Mbappe and Bellingham, they were miiiiiiiles ahead. So we can keep him and hope that he can have a decent season or two in a few years time, and sell him with a good profit, or just cut our losses now.
I’m leaning towards the latter. But he does give something up top that we are missing without him, so I’m not settled on the matter either.
This is it really. I mentioned above that we need players to buy into the system 100%, but the system doesn't always work and sometimes you need a livewire like Duran to stir up the hen house a bit, particularly when we're down.
I think if our backs weren't edging closer to the wall financially, everyone would want him to stay. But we're not going to do even middling business in the market without a few swaps and sales this time around.
I'd take a straight swap for Gallagher tbh. I think he'd be a great asset and seems like he's got his head screwed on right.
Agreed but it’s also a big gamble getting rid and then him turning into the next drogba 5 years down the line. He’s 20 years old and we only spent marginally money on him. Reassess in a couple of years and in the meantime spend money in other areas. UTV
If he continues to work hard, doesn’t get inflated ideas about his talent too early, he could become very good or better. I see him as one for the future, the near future. I feel Emery has a soft spot for him because of his potential. His left foot is amazing.
It’s pretty clear he has an obscene amount of talent, and he’s still very raw and requires development. But when you’re at a top 4 PL side who have one of the best strikers in the world, opportunities can be hard to come by. He clearly just wants to play, and you can’t fault him for that.
Although I think he has some attitude flaws, the club haven’t exactly given him a fair shot. There’s been times where he could’ve got more game time and hasn’t. Not to mention, when we first bought him, we pulled him out of the Colombia U20 WC squad (which is a huge opportunity with a lot of meaning for South American players). And then we didn’t play him at all. I completely understand his frustration in that.
Chelsea seems like a bit of a silly move to me, but if we can get £30m+ for him then it’ll be hard to turn down if he really does want to leave. It’s a shame cos I think he’ll be worth a lot more than that one day. All this “he’s another Balotelli” nonsense is tiresome and a pretty stupid comparison imo. He’s a 20 yr old that wants to play.
I think he is mediocre and have no understanding on why some on this forum think he is the new Pele.
I will be amazed if he makes it as a top level player and would expect a signing in the summer.
Sums up my thoughts. I don’t buy the age excuses either, as if every player around his age is a dickhead. I think he can put it together but just as easily end up in Serie B
I think you're being a little hyperbolic. A lot of us look at the raw skills and talent and realize he has a VERY high ceiling. He is by no means a sure thing though and is the very definition of a high ceiling low floor player. He could absolutely turn into a superstar, he also has the potential to never put it together and flame out. I think people also tend to forget how young he is because of what an impressive physical stature he has. When Watkins was the same age, he was in league 2. I obviously didn't see Ollie play when he was 19 and 20, but I can almost guarantee that if he was playing in the premier league at that age you wouldn't be looking at him going, well there's an obvious future superstar. Ollie's breakout season with Brentford in the championship was at the age of 23 and his breakout season this past one in the prem was at age 27. If you look at most elite strikers, they really don't break out until their mid 20s.
There are obviously some exceptions, but just looking at some former elite premier league strikers and what age their breakouts happened:
Drogba - 27
Van Persie - 26-27
Van Nistelrooy - 25
Tevez - 25
Sheringham - 26
Wright - 29
Suarez - 25
Cantona - 27
There are also examples of strikers that hit the ground running at a young age like Henry, Shearer, Kane and Haaland, so I don't want to act like I'm just cherry picking examples and trying to say that no strikers ever develop into stars at the beginning of their 20s, just saying that more often we don't see them really make the jump until their mid to late 20s and there are plenty of world class examples of players who did not take off until then.
I figured talking about him a bunch in my first paragraph was enough to suffice. Also, I love Ollie, but he doesn't yet have the CV of the other players I mentioned. The good news is that looking at those other examples, he very well could be at the beginning of four or five prime years as a striker.
He's 20, has scored a goal every 91 minutes in the league and brings something different to the team we don't get from anyone else. No one thinks he's the next Pele either but he scored great goals which gets people excited.
The people wanting him gone for looking a bit moody and liking a couple fucking instagram posts that mention him is the truly baffling thing here.
Yeah, 100%. Can't say I've seen anyone acting like he's the next coming of Christ, just rating the things he brings to the table when he plays, which feels fairly normal to me? And idk. Emery and Co saw enough in the lad to bring him in, he's shown there's potential there to build upon in the coming seasons, not backing him to succeed as long as he's here would just feel boring to me.
I think it's a football fan thing in general really. I remember back when it was supposedly "settling for mediocrity" to not want Luis Suarez as an upgrade on Watkins back in 2021, not sure anything will top that any time soon. And like... I get wanting the best and most focused players possible. I get seeing room for improvement on Durán. But I dunno, the way people will jump to wash their hands of a talent who can potentially really grow into something here is just sad sometimes.
I’m with you. He’s scored a couple of good goals so he might be a good finisher but to me he has some really clear weaknesses. Ollie Watkins is so much smaller a physical presence and is yet better to play long balls up to. He looks clumsy when he receives the ball to feet and has to turn or pass. And most of the time he doesn’t press effectively. I was pulling my hair out watching him play v Ajax, and couldn’t believe the praise he was getting in the car home because of the goal he scored.
Duran is absolute raw power. I think if he matures he will be an incredible player but I am not sure if he is a team player. He knows he is talented but I am not convinced he has the best advisors around him. I’d love him to do well with us.
As a slimy businessman considering the Liverpool performance, I'd wait until the Christmas transfer market and see if he's added a few more pounds to his price tag.
As a fan, I'd like him to mature, be professional and after a long career, build him a fuking statue.
Honestly, if someone came in waving £25-30m around, I'd shift him on and bring Abraham home for roughly the same money. I reckon Emery could get him playing at Watkins' level and be a real asset
He's a very talented squad player. Must of us remember times when there was a paucity of talent on the bench. Question is, does he accept that he's going to start on the bench except for some cup games. The bench needs to be as strong as we can make it!
The poch hug was really strange behaviour from both sides. They I don't think they had any sort of relationship previously, other than duran wanting to go to Chelsea, yet poch specifically looked him out for a hug. Very odd. I'd understand it if it was an older player who played under poch at psg, Southampton or spurs, but that just seemed weird
It's difficult to really analyse entirely. Something could have happened in the game for all we know. He might have saved Poch's cat from a tree one time.
It would be a shame, he has talent oozing through his veins, it’s understandable why someone that talented would be frustrating.
Hopefully he can channel it in the right way, because I don’t see him starting at Chelsea to be honest
One thing I’m tired of people questioning his character without knowing him as a person. They did the same thing with Chuk because he had the cheek to want to leave the club
There's so much potential but he isn't interested in using it with us, if we can use him towards Conor Gallagher and then get Tammy back in I'd be very happy.
We've been so insanely lucky with Ollies injury record but it may not always be that way, we were on our knees by the end of the season and somehow Watkins never found that 20th goal. Competition and rotation will be extremely necessary this season, Duran couldn't be anymore clear that he wants to go to Chelsea and we will need to replace him, I think Tammy can be that player.
Talent wise I like him, but as far as I know his personality is a bit divisive. If I'm honest, if we could get 25-30m for him and get someone else who's more attuned to the squad mentality it wouldn't be a bad thing. It feels similar to the Chuckwameka, situation where he's had people in his ear growing up telling him how great he is and he's got an ego as a result. No one is ever more important than the club.
20-25m for Duran is highway robbery. You may as well just give him away lol. He was worth 18m before proving what his talent is capable of in Europe and in the PL against the likes of Liverpool. Sheesh.
What do you think he’s realistically worth? Just because Lange overpaid to bring in a MLS striker with a decentish half season behind him doesn’t mean much. Archer who is a hg talent was valued around 20-25m.
Highway robbery? He hasn't done anything. What's he proven? That he can have the ball deflect off him and go in against Liverpool? That he can score against Hibs? Jeez, I know we tend to overrate our own but to suggest he's "proven" anything is baffling. He could still end up playing for some mid table French side for all we know.
Ye we are a stepping stone and he's not been good enough for me to cry if he leaves
His brace vs Liverpool secured CL for us. He's played pretty well when asked, I just don't know where his head is at.
Tbf the liverpool draw ended up not mattering, but it would've been huge if spurs ended up drawing w City
That was my thought process on it. I'd rather not have it left out of our hands.
The brace didn’t secure anything. Villa needed a win or a Spurs loss against City
Pissing on Liverpool's chips = priceless.
No it didn’t lol
He's been good, just not good enough for me to be gutted. There are quite a few players I'd rather lose than him
problem for me is he has only eve looked good from the bench, anonymous if starting. These season he 'should' get more games but i don't think Emery trusts him yet.
The Chuckwameka hate is so weird. He's a Chelsea fan, earning way more than he would here and would have gotten way more playing time at Chelsea had he not been injured. And let's be realistic, Chelsea still have a much higher chance of fighting for titles and UCLs than we do in the next 5 or so years as funny as they have been lately.
Why do they have a greater chance than us in the next 5 years? Are you expecting our decline into mid-table mediocrity? Can we not build on our position and stabilise to become regular challengers?
Money, pulling power, the fact they always seem to bounce back, European and Premier League winning experience, the fact that our best season in decades is finishing 5 points above their complete "disaster" of a season. The top 8 is ridiculously competitive now, anyone who thinks we're going to cement our place in the top 4 is living in la la land.
Yeah it's going to be challenging. And I did mean we should be challenging for the top 4, certainly not presuming we'll automatically achieve it, but Chelsea will also be having to battle with the rest of the contenders... they're not guaranteed top 4 just because they turned their season around. It's not la la land to be optimistic about what is potentially the start of a great era.
I'm not saying they're guarenteed top 4, I'm saying they're more likely to be up there challenging than we are. They're the "Big 6" for a reason, it's because they have resources we can only dream of right now. The league is all about money, and those entrenched at the top for decades will always have more of it that teams like us.
I don’t hate him…I have just forgotten about him. We got insane money for someone we tried to keep but not much loss when he’s gone. Fair play to him, but looks like we won that one by considerable distance
Which just makes the lingering hate even more baffling.
Genuinely why have you been downvoted so much for this... You've not said a thing wrong.
Boehy factor. with the roly poly boehly - they have more chance of just being funny
I read some rumours in the past few weeks that he had some disciplinary hearing at the cllub as a result of trashing his rented accommodation the club provided. I'm not sure if that's true or not but the fact I wasn't surprised after I read it probably tells you what I think about him, seems like a real loose cannon to put it mildly. I think he has all the tools to be a top player but he might not get there if he doesn't focus himself, he's now at a CL club with one of the best coaches in Europe and if he's not following Emerys advice to be patient and work on his game then he's an easy sell for me.
He's 20 so he's probably a bit of a tit, but he'll come good, just maybe not at Villa and that's ok.
Mario Balotelli MK2.
I grew up in the time of Asprilla...who lost the deposit by firing a gun in his club provided home! A young lad wrecking a flat is a bit pathetic but it's not the end of the world. He can certainly pay for whatever damage was done. Sometimes a bit of madness is good if he brings it to the pitch
This is the best, most balanced response to this post IMO (upvote wasn't enough for me).
Literally just placed an order for a custom Duran jersey from DHGate so naturally he’ll be signing to play elsewhere the day before my shirts delivered.
A Castore one? Just before the new kit? :S
Oh no it is what’s supposedly the new kit! Only like $17 USD so if it isn’t 100% correct I’m okay with it.
How do you find villa stuff on there? Searched "Villa" "Aston Villa" "Aston Villa 2025" and it says nothing found. Even searching Google for DH Gate football shirts, clicking the link shows 0 results on their website
Could be a location thing but I searched Aston Villa 24-25. I’ve never used the site before and also bought a Packers jersey so I’ll try to update when I get my stuff! https://preview.redd.it/xvt8eptcul3d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8af38cd114b9c86c8fc49dd95e0273ce8b60dd4
Yeah it must be. I'll see what I can do with a VPN. Thanks
UTV!
I'm an idiot. It wasn't coming up in a generic Google 5 after making an account and downloading the app, they show up. Thanks again.
FTP
I get it - I’d hate the packers too if I was a Viqueens fan
Do we still have Deano's "no dickheads' policy? He's a Balotelli 2.0 in training, car smash going to the game the one evening. rental accommodation ruined. not a good listener or taker on of direction. naah If Duran plus a few fringe sales means we keep our spine players - im all for it.
Let's not be too hasty. He's a kid, overseas and earning silly money. He's clearly making mistakes, but he's one of the players I'm most excited about going forward.
I’d sell him if the money was right. He’s good but he’s not good enough to justify breaking the no dickheads rule in building a team spirit.
Yeah this. Never really seen it with him to be honest.
Lol the liking Chelsea posts was literally just him liking a post about them signing a Colombian player for the women's team. Nothing exciting.
I feel like there needs to be a paradigm shift in his approach off the pitch for him if he's going to be a long term villa player. He clearly thinks he should be playing every week which honestly isn't a problem - it's great to have that kind of self belief - but when the player keeping you out of the team is playing as well as Watkins has been since Emery took over, you kind of have to accept that he's going to continue getting picked. Talent-wise, I'm sure he could be a good player for us, but he needs to be playing regularly otherwise the same gripes are going to resurface wherever he goes, and honestly that's not going to be at Chelsea. I also wonder whether he's as interested now with Poch gone?
It all seems like the agent wanting an extra payday. Not really fussed about what players do on social media, and a hug is just a hug. Not seen anything suggesting Durén himself actually wants out so unless Chelsea cough up something, I'm not expecting him to go anywhere. Will be good to see how well he continues to develop with us.
Yeah pretty much this some of our fanbase are so radical, “Duran made a social media post and it contained the letter C so obviously he hates everyone at villa and wants to move to Chelsea” it’s mental
It's not going to be a "we both did well" transfer. The guy will either be a phenom and we look stupid...or we will see his name in 10 years playing in Cyprus and wondering how we got so much. If Chelsea want to offer silly money (and remember it's a new manager soon), then I would be tempted. However, I'm curious to what he can do given a run in the team...
No way he should be up for sale in my eyes. Sometimes you need a bit of a maverick to throw in and cause some chaos - and he's perfect for that whilst scoring some absolute thunderbastards. I'd feel a bit differently if he was our main striker, but he's perfect for our backup role. And hopefully the calmness within the squad rubs off on him as he matures.
He really does give me Balotelli vibes.
Our formation and Emery's willingness to give Watkins so much game time makes it extremely difficult to be the 2nd or 3rd striker. It must be the hardest position in the club to keep them happy. If Duran goes, whoever sat in that role would end up feeling the same I'm sure. We never play 442 and Watkins has been immune to injury. I like him, would love him to stay, but he'll be feeding on scraps again I'm sure. There's not even a 3rd round League Cup game for him next year.
He’s not gunna knock Watkins off his perch anytime soon and that could lead to problems. Great talent, could become a great player but has balotelli vibes too. Would prefer to sell maybe with some big clauses just in case he blows up. Replace with someone that can play more than one position
I could see him leaving this summer, especially if a decent bid comes in. I can't see him getting ahead of Watkins any time soon, and if Chelsea goes splashing the cash again, I wouldn't lose sleep about losing him. I think there are better options out there. If there's any truth to the Gallacher rumours, it wouldn't shock me if he's part of the deal.
Wouldn't hate that to be honest. Gallagher is so bloody stable you could build your house on him and we need that at times. I like Duran despite his issues, but he's not starting over Watkins any time soon and I feel that will just allow him to stay raw and unpolished, which is no bad thing at times, but when you play the system we do everyone has to be on board.
I’d heard something about a swap with Gallagher coming back (and I’m sure money going to Chelsea too) but i wouldn’t hate that
He can become a decent player one day, but if you compare him to world class players when they were his age, Håland, Mbappe and Bellingham, they were miiiiiiiles ahead. So we can keep him and hope that he can have a decent season or two in a few years time, and sell him with a good profit, or just cut our losses now. I’m leaning towards the latter. But he does give something up top that we are missing without him, so I’m not settled on the matter either.
This is it really. I mentioned above that we need players to buy into the system 100%, but the system doesn't always work and sometimes you need a livewire like Duran to stir up the hen house a bit, particularly when we're down. I think if our backs weren't edging closer to the wall financially, everyone would want him to stay. But we're not going to do even middling business in the market without a few swaps and sales this time around. I'd take a straight swap for Gallagher tbh. I think he'd be a great asset and seems like he's got his head screwed on right.
Doubt Chelsea would go for that. We took em to the cleaners with Chuck
I could see a situation where they 'offer 50m' for Duran and we 'offer 50m' for Gallagher.
He’s class keep him. Couldn’t understand getting rid just to buy another replacement. He’ll learn and will get more minutes next season.
Big gamble though. Footballs history is littered with class players that got a little too top heavy.
Agreed but it’s also a big gamble getting rid and then him turning into the next drogba 5 years down the line. He’s 20 years old and we only spent marginally money on him. Reassess in a couple of years and in the meantime spend money in other areas. UTV
If he continues to work hard, doesn’t get inflated ideas about his talent too early, he could become very good or better. I see him as one for the future, the near future. I feel Emery has a soft spot for him because of his potential. His left foot is amazing.
It’s pretty clear he has an obscene amount of talent, and he’s still very raw and requires development. But when you’re at a top 4 PL side who have one of the best strikers in the world, opportunities can be hard to come by. He clearly just wants to play, and you can’t fault him for that. Although I think he has some attitude flaws, the club haven’t exactly given him a fair shot. There’s been times where he could’ve got more game time and hasn’t. Not to mention, when we first bought him, we pulled him out of the Colombia U20 WC squad (which is a huge opportunity with a lot of meaning for South American players). And then we didn’t play him at all. I completely understand his frustration in that. Chelsea seems like a bit of a silly move to me, but if we can get £30m+ for him then it’ll be hard to turn down if he really does want to leave. It’s a shame cos I think he’ll be worth a lot more than that one day. All this “he’s another Balotelli” nonsense is tiresome and a pretty stupid comparison imo. He’s a 20 yr old that wants to play.
I think he is mediocre and have no understanding on why some on this forum think he is the new Pele. I will be amazed if he makes it as a top level player and would expect a signing in the summer.
Sums up my thoughts. I don’t buy the age excuses either, as if every player around his age is a dickhead. I think he can put it together but just as easily end up in Serie B
I think you're being a little hyperbolic. A lot of us look at the raw skills and talent and realize he has a VERY high ceiling. He is by no means a sure thing though and is the very definition of a high ceiling low floor player. He could absolutely turn into a superstar, he also has the potential to never put it together and flame out. I think people also tend to forget how young he is because of what an impressive physical stature he has. When Watkins was the same age, he was in league 2. I obviously didn't see Ollie play when he was 19 and 20, but I can almost guarantee that if he was playing in the premier league at that age you wouldn't be looking at him going, well there's an obvious future superstar. Ollie's breakout season with Brentford in the championship was at the age of 23 and his breakout season this past one in the prem was at age 27. If you look at most elite strikers, they really don't break out until their mid 20s. There are obviously some exceptions, but just looking at some former elite premier league strikers and what age their breakouts happened: Drogba - 27 Van Persie - 26-27 Van Nistelrooy - 25 Tevez - 25 Sheringham - 26 Wright - 29 Suarez - 25 Cantona - 27 There are also examples of strikers that hit the ground running at a young age like Henry, Shearer, Kane and Haaland, so I don't want to act like I'm just cherry picking examples and trying to say that no strikers ever develop into stars at the beginning of their 20s, just saying that more often we don't see them really make the jump until their mid to late 20s and there are plenty of world class examples of players who did not take off until then.
You can add Watkins to your list
I figured talking about him a bunch in my first paragraph was enough to suffice. Also, I love Ollie, but he doesn't yet have the CV of the other players I mentioned. The good news is that looking at those other examples, he very well could be at the beginning of four or five prime years as a striker.
He's 20, has scored a goal every 91 minutes in the league and brings something different to the team we don't get from anyone else. No one thinks he's the next Pele either but he scored great goals which gets people excited. The people wanting him gone for looking a bit moody and liking a couple fucking instagram posts that mention him is the truly baffling thing here.
Yeah, 100%. Can't say I've seen anyone acting like he's the next coming of Christ, just rating the things he brings to the table when he plays, which feels fairly normal to me? And idk. Emery and Co saw enough in the lad to bring him in, he's shown there's potential there to build upon in the coming seasons, not backing him to succeed as long as he's here would just feel boring to me.
The way this sub seems to turn on players at the first hint they don't piss claret and blue is so weird.
I think it's a football fan thing in general really. I remember back when it was supposedly "settling for mediocrity" to not want Luis Suarez as an upgrade on Watkins back in 2021, not sure anything will top that any time soon. And like... I get wanting the best and most focused players possible. I get seeing room for improvement on Durán. But I dunno, the way people will jump to wash their hands of a talent who can potentially really grow into something here is just sad sometimes.
I’m with you. He’s scored a couple of good goals so he might be a good finisher but to me he has some really clear weaknesses. Ollie Watkins is so much smaller a physical presence and is yet better to play long balls up to. He looks clumsy when he receives the ball to feet and has to turn or pass. And most of the time he doesn’t press effectively. I was pulling my hair out watching him play v Ajax, and couldn’t believe the praise he was getting in the car home because of the goal he scored.
If he wants to leave he can leave - as Jack Grealish has shown, no one player is bigger than the club
Duran is absolute raw power. I think if he matures he will be an incredible player but I am not sure if he is a team player. He knows he is talented but I am not convinced he has the best advisors around him. I’d love him to do well with us.
As a slimy businessman considering the Liverpool performance, I'd wait until the Christmas transfer market and see if he's added a few more pounds to his price tag. As a fan, I'd like him to mature, be professional and after a long career, build him a fuking statue.
Honestly, if someone came in waving £25-30m around, I'd shift him on and bring Abraham home for roughly the same money. I reckon Emery could get him playing at Watkins' level and be a real asset
He's a very talented squad player. Must of us remember times when there was a paucity of talent on the bench. Question is, does he accept that he's going to start on the bench except for some cup games. The bench needs to be as strong as we can make it!
Swap him for Conor Gallagher
The poch hug was really strange behaviour from both sides. They I don't think they had any sort of relationship previously, other than duran wanting to go to Chelsea, yet poch specifically looked him out for a hug. Very odd. I'd understand it if it was an older player who played under poch at psg, Southampton or spurs, but that just seemed weird
It's difficult to really analyse entirely. Something could have happened in the game for all we know. He might have saved Poch's cat from a tree one time.
It would be a shame, he has talent oozing through his veins, it’s understandable why someone that talented would be frustrating. Hopefully he can channel it in the right way, because I don’t see him starting at Chelsea to be honest One thing I’m tired of people questioning his character without knowing him as a person. They did the same thing with Chuk because he had the cheek to want to leave the club
Swap with Gallagher I don’t want people who don’t want to be hear he can be another carney and rot on the bench
There's so much potential but he isn't interested in using it with us, if we can use him towards Conor Gallagher and then get Tammy back in I'd be very happy.
But that's playing 2 up front, which we don't do
There's a thing called rotation, believe we struggled quite a bot with it this season.
With you, but no way is there an intention to rotate the CF unless Watkins is injured which thankfully doesn't seem to happen.
We've been so insanely lucky with Ollies injury record but it may not always be that way, we were on our knees by the end of the season and somehow Watkins never found that 20th goal. Competition and rotation will be extremely necessary this season, Duran couldn't be anymore clear that he wants to go to Chelsea and we will need to replace him, I think Tammy can be that player.
What makes you say Duran wants Chelsea move?
Go have a peek at his likes on Twitter
Thanks, will do