Why would Villa want to sell Duran?published at 09:39 19 August
09:39 19 August
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Former Premier League defender Stephen Kelly says he does not understand why Aston Villa would want to sell Jhon Duran this summer.
Reports throughout the summer suggested that Duran was on his way to West Ham, but the move ultimately did not materialise and the decision came back to cost the Hammers when he scored a late winner for Villa on Saturday.
"I honestly do not know why they would sell him," said Kelly on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily Podcast. "They are playing Champions League football and they will be looking to secure European football again for next season as a very minimum.
"They have Emery who has proven himself in Europe and understands what it will take, and he has been given the financial backing, so I do not understand why they would sell him.
"They are not in a position where they have to offload players. If they have someone lined up who would come in and trump him then fair enough but I don't think that is on the cards."
Catch up on the Premier League actionpublished at 11:09 18 August
11:09 18 August
Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from Friday's game between Manchester United and Fulham.
West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa: Duran's crucial contributionpublished at 21:08 17 August
21:08 17 August
Marissa Thomas BBC Sport journalist
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Image caption,
Jhon Duran came off the bench to score the winner for Aston Villa
Jhon Duran had an influential impact as his late goal sealed three points for Aston Villa.
The substitute came on for Ollie Watkins with half an hour left to play and scored with 11 minutes remaining, latching on to Jacob Ramsey's pass and firing a first-time finish past Alphonse Areola.
The irony of Duran's goal was hard to ignore given West Ham have had two failed bids for the player this summer, he had even agreed personal terms and a deal was being discussed.
Duran has now scored six Premier League goals from just 616 minutes played in the competition, an average of one every 103 minutes.
Erling Haaland is the only player to have scored 5+ Premier League goals, and averaged a better minutes to goals rate (85).
His goal celebration indicated that he now wants to remain with Villa which will be a huge boost for the club, especially with the extra fixtures that Champions League football will bring.
West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa: What Emery saidpublished at 20:16 17 August
20:16 17 August
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Unai Emery Spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Aston Villa's victory over West Ham: "[This is] a very difficult place. Today we deserve it but it was a very tough match. Our game plan was progressively getting better in 90 minutes. I think now the first match after pre-season some players are not fit to play 90 minutes. I think today their attitude, commitment was fantastic."
On strength in depth: "The idea is to try to have players in the bench as well with the qualities played in the starting 11. This year we are improving our level facing the Champions League. Of course we want to keep the same position competing the way we did last year and we have to be very demanding with our players. We are ready to play the next match at home against Arsenal on Saturday and we showed a little bit the different possibilities in the squad. The impact of Jhon Duran was very important because he still wasn't fit to play 90 minutes, Ollie Watkins."
On Jhon Duran: "We believe in him and he has to play, he has to be ready to train every day like he was doing the last week and like he trained today. For me we need two strikers and both have to have good performances and good commitment to play like they both played today."
'The substitutes made a massive difference'published at 19:48 17 August
19:48 17 August
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Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live after their win over West Ham: "We took some good chances and we deserved to win.
"I think that is football and sometimes these chances go in and sometimes not. We kept creating chances and pushing. We are very happy.
"The substitutes made a massive difference. I think we had a bit of a dip at that point and the manager made the changes at the right time. The three off them combined for that goal. We have some great players and we are ready to perform."
On season ambitions, Tielemans added: "We will have to wait and see because it is only the first game. We have a lot of ambition and we want to build on that. We want to be the best we can be."
West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa: Did you know?published at 19:43 17 August
19:43 17 August
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Jhon Duran has now scored six Premier League goals from just 616 minutes played in the competition, an average of one every 103 minutes. Among players to have scored 5+ Premier League goals, only Erling Haaland (85) has averaged a better minutes to goals rate.
West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa: Send us your thoughtspublished at 19:26 17 August
Sutton's predictions: West Ham v Aston Villapublished at 11:16 17 August
11:16 17 August
A new season, and a new challenge for BBC Sport's prediction expert Chris Sutton.
Sutton faced off against a guest for each of the 38 game weeks in 2023-24 and triumphed 21-10 (with seven draws) to secure his second predictions title in a row.
He will have a guest each week this time too, but now you can find out if you can do any better.
Sutton's opponent for the opening round of games is The Courteeners frontman Liam Fray.
Sutton's prediction: 1-1
I like what West Ham have done in the transfer market this summer and I am really excited about seeing Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug in the Premier League.
Fullkrug is an old-fashioned, throwback type of striker but he can finish.
Style-wise, the Hammers will be back to the 'West Ham way' under new boss Julen Lopetegui, which is what their fans wanted. Expectations are high so let's see how they get on.
For Aston Villa, the question is whether they can hit the heights of last season again.
It is going to be difficult for them to combine a top-four challenge with Champions League football once that gets started, and there might be some bumps in the road.
This is a difficult one to call because there are reasons to back both teams, so I am going to go with a draw.
Liam's prediction: 1-2
I like watching Villa - I think John McGinn is brilliant - but both of these teams are going to have good seasons.
Tough for Villa to replicate last season - Shearerpublished at 17:59 16 August
17:59 16 August
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As Newcastle found out last season, it is going to be tough for Aston Villa to replicate last season's top-four finish now they have Champions League football to contend with.
Villa were in the Europa Conference League last season so were used to playing Thursday-Sunday but this is a much bigger ask. They have signed a few players to give their squad more depth but a lot of them are untried in the Premier League.
It might work out because Unai Emery is an excellent coach, and I am sure they will challenge again, but it is hard to see them maintaining their consistency.
Earlier, we asked you who has made the most Premier League appearances for Aston Villa.
Of course it was Gareth Barry.
The Premier League's all-time leading appearance maker boasts 365 in Villa colours, scoring 41 goals.
Emery on Archer sale, Carlos future and West Hampublished at 16:25 16 August
16:25 16 August
Craig Nelson BBC Sport Journalist
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League opener at West Ham (kick-off 17:30 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
On being forced to sell young players to comply with profit and sustainability rules: "For the PSR rules it was better for us and we decided to do this situation. We achieved the rules by doing some things with young players that really I prefer not to do, but we did it."
Emery said that the sale of Cameron Archer to Southampton was not down to PSR, but was right for the striker's development: "He is leaving because we are thinking he needs to do his work individually and try to develop himself because he we cannot assure him to play big minutes with us."
Diego Carlos, however, is not on his way out of Villa, according to Emery, who said the Brazil centre-back was "completely with us". He added: "Of course things can change, maybe, but it’s not in my mind to change something around him now, unless again there is an offer coming in for us that could be a good offer."
On the expected return date for defender Tyrone Mings, who has not played since injuring his knee on the opening day of last season: "He’s not training with us yet, but hopefully by the beginning of September he is joining in with us. Come September and October, hopefully he will be completely training with us and available to play."
On whether Ollie Watkins is ready to go after being away with England this summer and a lack of pre-season action: "He is in the squad but I don't know if he will play at the beginning or if he will be late to play some minutes. I will meet him and after my talk with him I will decide whether he is going to play or not."
Emery said opponents West Ham have reason to be ambitious: "I think they are going to try to get the same we got last year. Tomorrow is going to be a good match, where we start two teams more or less similar. I am very motivated and excited with the players how we are going to start tomorrow."
Villa 'scrambling to keep up' with Emerypublished at 15:59 15 August
15:59 15 August
Mike Taylor BBC Radio WM reporter
"In Unai we trust!"
Those words became a battle-cry for Aston Villa supporters as Unai Emery drove them forward. But of late, as Villa stumbled through pre-season, those words have begun to sound like a prayer. Unai will fix it... won’t he?
The showpiece tours of the modern Premier League pre-season are not kind towards fans inclined to worry. Obscured by the hoopla, the only pre-season result of any long-term importance is the team's state when the first Premier League whistle sounds, and there is reason to believe Villa will be in decent shape.
Concerns over profit and sustainability limits dampened expectations, but within those boundaries, transfer business has been sensible. While keeping net-spending on fees low, Villa now have more fully-fledged top-flight players than how they started the summer.
They replaced the most significant player to leave, Douglas Luiz, bringing in Amadou Onana, while Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings should return too. Villa will have greater squad depth than last year.
In their current situation, this amounts to steady, well-judged development. The problem is that while the number of games is unlikely to increase, the Champions League means the level of quality required has gone up instead.
How far would the Villa side that reached the Conference League semi-final in May get in the senior European competition? The squad may now be deeper - but is the new 'best XI' better than last season’s version?
Pre-season results cannot reliably tell us, and some of Villa’s key players have not long returned to work anyway after summer tournaments. There is still time to complete more business, and maybe address what remains the most delicate potential problem – what happens if Ollie Watkins suffers an injury or loss of form?
Villa are a club scrambling to keep up, not so much with their rivals as with their manager. There is no disgrace in that – the dramatic progress Unai Emery has achieved with the players available is beyond all reasonable expectations when he arrived, save perhaps his own.
But there is nobody more determined to pull the club further forward than Emery himself, as shown by his signing of a new contract this summer.
In Unai Villa trust; but he clearly trusts Villa too, as the vehicle for his ambitions.
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