ASTON VILLA star Jhon Duran is fast becoming the Premier League’s most lethal super sub.
The 20-year-old striker netted a stunner off the bench to sink Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
Duran curled a majestic lob over Manuel Neuer just minutes after replacing Ollie Watkins in the Champions League clash.
The Colombian has developed a reputation for being a game-changer for Unai Emery’s men.
After a slow start to life in the West Midlands, Duran has come into his own over the past year.
And stats show he is on his way to becoming as effective as iconic impact sub Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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Since his debut in January 2023, Duran has scored more goals as a substitute than any other Premier League player.
He’s netted ten goals off the bench in that period – two more than Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard and three more than Newcastle’s Callum Wilson.
So far this season, Duran already has the most goals as a sub, with five, out of any player across the big five European leagues.
It means he’s potentially on track to break the all-time Prem record, set by Chelsea’s Mikael Forssell on loan at Crystal Palace back in 2002.
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Forsell scored nine times off the bench that campaign, with Duran needing another five sub goals between now and May to take the record.
Also on the list is Man Utd legend Solskjaer, who built his career around dramatic late goals.
Solskjaer scored eight goals as a sub during United’s treble-winning season in 1999, most memorably in the Champions League final against Bayern.
On the all-time Prem list of substitute goals, Ole is third with 29 behind Jermain Defoe and Olivier Giroud (both 31).
Duran arrived from MLS side Chicago Fire in 2022 for a fee of £14.75 million.
Boss Emery had high praise for his matchwinner after a historic night at Villa Park.
But he admitted the striker had occasionally become “impatient” with his bit-part role.
Emery said: “He arrived here two years ago and he is young, his potential is huge.
“Sometimes he has been impatient and I need to speak to him as a person and connect to him as a person as well as a player to try to let him play, putting him on the field because his talent is there and the capacity to help us.”
And the Villa boss revealed it was no accident that Duran knew Bayern stopper Neuer would be off his line for the winner.
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He added: “This is the talent that some players have and when Jhon Duran has the ball he is scoring quickly.
“In the analysis we have of [Bayern], we were speaking of how usually the position of Neuer is always high.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
