He is still 22 years young, has earned himself a fortune with a weekly salary (!) of 360,000 euros, but the sporting fun did not last long. Jhon Duran has gone from super-substitute star in the Premier League to a few seasons to fight his way back. Now he is in place at Benfica.
We take a look back at the 2024/25 season and super reserve Duran, drawing comparisons to Manchester United’s Solskjaer: “When Aston Villa sent the RB Leipzig players to the shower with a bitter home defeat, it was a 20-year-old who came in as a game-changer. Jhon Duran came back off the bench in the second half, scored and helped decide the game. We get a real flashback to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the oversized United shirt, when he repeatedly came cold off the bench and took a few minutes to score.”
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The flashback continues: “The 20-year-old Duran has scored 6 goals as a substitute this season. In total, the striker has scored 10 goals during his 790 minutes on the pitch so far this season. Against Leipzig, the 20-year-old needed seven minutes to send Villa into the lead with a fantastic goal. With six goals as a substitute, Duran is the highest-scoring substitute in the biggest European leagues this season.”
Then came the incomprehensible transfer to Ronaldo’s club in the Saudi Arabian league. Aston Villa got a wild 77 million euros for the substitute. This was in January 2025, in the summer of 2025 the young Colombian disappeared “worth” of a weekly salary of 360,000 euros on loan to Fenerbahce. In the winter, the loan agreement was terminated, Duran disappeared on loan to Russian Zenit.
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On Tuesday, Benfica announced that they have signed Duran on a loan deal for the season, where a purchase option of 30 million euros is included in the deal.
In other words, well under half the Saudi Arabian club paid in 2025…
We wish the 22-year-old the best of luck, now back on the “track”.
