Jhon Duran takes a break from his third team this year as his career takes a new turn.
Jhon Duran, the former Premier League striker who once played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, has agreed to take a break from his sixth professional club.
The 22-year-old forward joined Aston Villa from Chicago Fire as a much-loved young talent and quickly made a name for himself in the West Midlands. Villa’s captain John McGinn once called him ‘a bit nuts’ because of his wild style, but Duran became known for scoring amazing goals at crucial moments.
Two years ago, he scored the goals that helped Villa qualify for the Champions League, including a stunning long-range strike against Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. They face Bayern again on Friday for the same big prize, but Duran’s time at Villa is long behind him.
After nearly replacing Ollie Watkins as the main striker under Unai Emery, Duran was sold for a big fee to Al Nassr, where he joined Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League. Though registered with Al Nassr, he’s played only 13 league games and shared the field with Ronaldo for just over 1000 minutes.
Duran was then loaned to Turkish club Fenerbahce, where he faced health challenges and had a rough patch with manager Jose Mourinho after arriving late for pre-season training in Portugal. Mourinho said, “It’s disrespectful. There are clear rules here, and anyone who breaks them will face consequences.”
While Duran eventually started playing in Istanbul, including a Europa League game against Villa, he wasn’t the same player and was loaned again, this time to Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.
He’s on loan at Zenit until the end of June, but after just one goal and six league appearances, he’s been granted a leave of absence. Zenit released a brief statement: “The club and the Colombian striker have agreed on a leave of absence due to personal reasons. Details about his return will be shared soon.”
Duran is clearly talented and was exciting to watch in England, but it seems he’s having a tough time getting back to his best. We don’t know the exact reasons for his break, but we hope he can find his way again, both on and off the field.