Jhon Duran, Aston Villa and a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment – what if he had not been sent off? – The Athletic

The film Sliding Doors was released in 1998, with the phrase ‘Sliding Doors moment’ now commonly used in English vernacular. Many may not even know the film, only the expression.

The plot explores fate and reality and how one moment in someone’s life can completely alter its future direction.

Aston Villa and Jhon Duran have their own example: a ‘Sliding Doors moment’ in Newcastle on Boxing Day 2024, when a single kick on Fabian Schar uprooted destiny… perhaps.

The flashpoint transpired in the 32nd minute between Villa and Newcastle United as referee Anthony Taylor adjudged the striker to have left his leg in on a sliding Schar. Duran had been knocked off balance because of the tackle, but Taylor decided that he had intentionally studded the back of the Switzerland international.

The red card turned St James’ Park into a frenzied tinderbox.

Duran booted a water bottle on his way down the tunnel while manager Unai Emery was enraged by Newcastle assistant Jason Tindall putting his finger to his lips and telling the Spaniard to be quiet. A “mass confrontation”, as later described by the Football Association, ensued at half-time, with Tindall and Villa senior analyst Victor Manas sent off and both teams charged with failing to control their players and staff.

Staff involved recalled the scenes to The Athletic, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, describing what took place between the two dressing rooms as “chaos”. Anywhere and everywhere you looked, there was pushing and shoving. Emery and Eddie Howe were irate, while Villa’s director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, emerged from his high vantage point in the stands and was caught up in it all. Backroom staff and player care officers added to the numbers. Taylor demanded the leading culprits come into his changing room for a dressing down.

Asked if Villa would appeal the red card, Emery replied: “Of course. Of course. Three matches? Wow, it’s hard to accept. Because the foot is not clear if it’s touching. Three matches… wow. OK. Maybe because it’s Jhon Duran. We are working a lot with him to teach him always the good way and he is doing this effort.”

More than a year on, it seems appropriate for The Athletic to focus on that incident which had implications for Villa’s future.

On Thursday evening, they will reunite with Duran as Aston Villa visit his latest club, Fenerbahce, in the Europa League. At one stage it looked like the reunion was not going to happen as Duran was suspended for a ‘headbutt’ against Hungarian side Ferencvaros. That had been a harsh decision and a two-game ban was reduced to one on appeal, allowing the Colombia international to face his former club.

What if Duran had not been sent off? What if Taylor’s on-pitch verdict was a yellow card? Newcastle was the fourth match Duran had started ahead of Ollie Watkins, scoring in each of the previous three. Due to the pressures of potential financial sanctions, Villa thought they might have to sell one of them in the approaching January window.

Ultimately, Duran’s move to Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, hastened by his red card, was further down the line than Arsenal’s overtures for Watkins (Arsenal offered £40million in six instalments).

It could have been different. Had Duran stayed, would Watkins have gone instead? Would Villa have been able to keep Duran on the straight and narrow and become one of the best strikers in the world, as senior figures believed?

Watkins and Duran in 2024 (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

What we do know is that once Duran returned from suspension, he played just 34 more minutes in the Premier League and left the next month, joining Al Nassr for €77m.

As Emery indicated, Villa did appeal his three-game ban, though it was dismissed by the FA. Duran was given time off to return to Colombia.

Some close to the Villa dressing room have previously told The Athletic that Duran could be outgoing and make jokes when he was at his most comfortable, but then could sometimes be more aloof. In training, players and coaches were blown away by him while he would also be spotted listening to music and singing to himself around the training ground. But having lost his starting place, behavioural issues arose. 

There were instances of him arriving late and disturbing team meetings. There would be other occasions when Duran would tell club doctors he was injured, even if this was not evidenced on later scans. His attitude had been noted by multiple sources, who said it could stray close to breaching Villa’s disciplinary standards. The there were his social media antics, such as making an Irons-shaped gesture on an Instagram live when he pushed to join West Ham in the summer of 2024.

Duran insisted on leaving again and Villa were at the end of their tether with him. Watkins returned to the lineup and was back in the goals. Villa sources stated that if Duran had wanted to stay in January, they would have been more determined to keep him.

The sense of drama did not subside in Saudi Arabia. Duran scored twice on his league debut but he never appeared truly at home in his six-month stay.

Duran was a player who needed to be loved and reminded of keeping his feet on the ground. So earning more than €10m (£8.7m; $11.7m) a year net and living in a different, less intense footballing environment posed a challenge.

Fenerbahce offered to take up Duran’s salary on a season-long loan at the start of July, yet his time in Turkey has been slow-going, chiefly down to injury.

“We could not use him on the pitch because he was injured for the first five or six weeks,” Fenerbahce manager Domenico Tedesco tells The Athletic. “But when he was back and fit again, we immediately tried to bring him inside the squad as soon as possible to be together with the team. And then we used him a few minutes against Besiktas, a few moments also the game before. You immediately see the quality.”

“Jhon is a striker who basically has everything,” adds a Fenerbache source, close to the dressing room. “Tall, fast, and a clinical finisher.

“He’s slowly getting back into form — but it’s not quite enough yet for him to play 90 minutes every three days.”

Duran won the Turkish Super Cup against Galatasaray this month (Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)

In some ways, it is fitting that the man nicknamed ‘Captain Chaos’ by Villa supporters can play against his old club and come full circle. His absence in a frenzied Istanbul atmosphere in a high-stakes fixture would have been like a ghost at a feast.

Football can be a paradox in how it strives for long-term, future-proof planning when it remains a sport inherently fickle, sometimes changing based on a single match or moment. The argument will be that Duran was always going to boil over at some point; it was when and not if. Yet it was his sending off on Tyneside which accelerated his departure.

Had Duran stuck around that month, there would have been a knock-on effect that could well have altered Villa’s immediate future.