Unai Emery has said he wants to keep Jhon Duran despite transfer speculation after scoring the winner in Aston Villa's 2-1 victory over West Ham.
Duran slotted home the winner in the 79th minute after Lucas Paqueta’s spot-kick had ruled out Amadou Onana's early opener.
It was Duran's sixth Premier League goal in just 616 minutes of action in the competition, meaning he has averaged a goal every 103 minutes. That rate has only been bettered by Erling Haaland among those who have scored more than five goals.
Duran's goal was all the more fitting given he was seemingly on the verge of joining the Hammers earlier this summer, with the Colombia international even gesturing with an "irons" celebration in a social media video.
But Duran has so far stayed at Villa Park, and Emery is keen to keep it that way, although the Spaniard warned there are no guarantees.
"We were open with every player to accept a good offer and one of those players is him. But we know how much we believe in him and if he leaves it's because the offer is very good, but I want to keep him," Emery told the media.
“We believe in Duran and in his potential. We are always open to working with him if he's like he is today, helping the team and he was fantastic."
Speaking on other possible transfers, Emery suggested Alex Moreno was the most likely left-back to depart the club this summer.
Having joined in January 2023, Moreno appears to be behind Lucas Digne and new arrival Ian Maatsen in the pecking order, and Nottingham Forest are among the clubs reportedly interested.
"We signed Ian Maatsen and we were speaking with different players in this position. The difficulty is to manage with three left-backs. Moreno is the player who is now close to leaving," he explained.
Debutant Onana headed in Villa's first goal, and while impressed with the midfielder's display, Emery knows there is more to come from the former Everton man.
"There’s still a lot of adaptation ahead, in training and in matches. Today it was his first official match with us. He was very mature, responsible and intelligent," he said.
“I think this is the first step we need. The adaptation is going to be long, because there are a lot of things we want to get out of him, but his potential is most important."
Villa bucked a poor record away at West Ham having gone without a win in their previous nine encounters away from Villa Park.
Despite West Ham’s superior 2.4 expected goals, Emery felt his side were deserving of their victory.
"The first 30 minutes were very good. We were in control of the game, with good positioning. We did'’t concede a corner until the 28th minute. We scored one and had a chance to get a second with Leon Bailey [hitting the post]," he reflected.
"They got a goal too, and we started the second half a bit softly. But we started controlling the game more again and deserved to win."
Shaw, Layzell on target as Man City stun holders Barcelona in Women's Champions League
Naomi Layzell enjoyed a dream Women's Champions League debut as her goal and assist helped Manchester City stun holders Barcelona 2-0 on Wednesday.
Layzell was playing her football in the Women's Super League last season with relegated Bristol City, but was the star of the show at the Joie Stadium.
City were making their first appearance in the competition since falling to a 4-2 quarter-final loss to the Catalan side in March 2021, and exacted their revenge with a plucky display.
The hosts, however, almost found themselves a goal behind with just three minutes on the clock when Caroline Hansen took aim and saw her effort cannon off the post, shortly before Lauren Hemp struck the woodwork with a strike of her own.
City grew into the contest and almost got the goal their performance merited in the 35th minute when Vivianne Miedema teed up Khadija Shaw, only to see her effort saved by Cata Coll.
But from the resulting corner, Gareth Taylor's side got their noses in front as Miedema brilliantly headed the ball from the back post and back into the danger area, with Layzell sliding in to mark her Champions League debut with a goal.
Barcelona had only failed to score once in their past 79 games heading into the encounter, and improved after the interval in their search for an equaliser.
Aitana Bonmati forced Ayaka Yamashita into making a smart save down to her right, with substitute Claudia Pina going close from distance as City were forced to withstand a relentless wave of pressure from the defending champions.
But the hosts landed a sucker punch in the 77th minute on the counter, with Layzell turning provider for Shaw, with the striker riding the challenge of Patri Guijarro before rounding Coll to seal a memorable triumph for City.
The Citizens ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.68 compared to Barca's 1.5, despite having four fewer shots than their opponents.
Gareth Taylor's side sit level on points with Hammarby in Group D, after the Swedish side beat Austria's St. Polten 2-0 earlier on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in Group C, Juventus edged out Norwegian side Valerenga to kickstart their campaign with a victory at the Intility Arena.
Sofia Cantore's 29th minute strike proved to be the difference, with the Italian curling a fine right-footed effort beyond the grasp of Tove Enblom against the run of play.
Juventus continued to struggle throughout the contest, with Valerenga registering 25 shots, with six of those on target, ending with an xG total of 2.2.
Man United's Diallo withdraws from Ivory Coast squad
Manchester United's Amad Diallo has withdrawn from the Ivory Coast's Africa Cup of Nations qualifying double-header against Sierra Leone due to illness.
Diallo, who has made six appearances for his country, has since returned to Manchester ahead of the Red Devils' upcoming Premier League fixture against Brentford.
The 22-year-old earned his first cap for the Elephants in 2021, and was recalled to Emerse Fae's group after a 15-month absence in June for wins over Zambia and Chad.
Ivory Coast know that two wins against the Leone Stars will seal their progression to the tournament, which takes place in Morocco at the end of next year.
A statement by the Elephants read, “The Ivorian Football Federation informs the Press and the public that the player, Amad DIALLO, arrived in group on Monday October 7, 2024, as part of the 3rd and 4th Days of the CAN qualifiers Morocco 2025, is declared forfeit for health reasons.”
Diallo is the latest player within Erik ten Hag's ranks to withdraw from international duty with their respective nations.
Argentina's Alejandro Garnacho, England's Kobbie Mainoo and Morocco's Noussair Mazraoui are the other players left out as a precaution.
Diallo has made 10 appearances for United this season in all competitions, scoring once in his side's 2-1 defeat to Brighton at the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
However, he has yet to fully nail down a starting berth, with Ten Hag so far rotating his wide options with Garnacho and Marcus Rashford.
Daniel Maldini the missing piece to Italy puzzle, believes Spalletti
Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti believes Daniel Maldini has been the creative spark the national side has been lacking ahead of their Nations League clash with Belgium.
Maldini could follow in the footsteps of his father, Paolo, and grandfather Cesare, both former Italy captains, should he represent the Azzurri at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday.
The 22-year-old came through the ranks at Milan, managing 24 appearances in all competitions and scoring once, but spent three seasons out on loan from 2022 to 2024.
Maldini spent the second half of last season on loan with Monza before making his move permanent in July, netting five goals in 19 outings to help Raffaele Palladino's side to a 12th place finish in Serie A.
Now under the guidance of Alessandro Nesta, Maldini has begun to flourish, completing more dribbles (12) than any of his team-mates in the league so far.
The young Italian was one of four players given their senior call-up by Spalletti for their Nations League fixtures against Belgium and Israel, with the Monza forward replacing Lazio's Matteo Zaccagni.
And Spalletti is confident Maldini can make an impact, saying: "He is the (kind of) player we were missing."
Italy come into the contest off the back of an impressive opening to their Nations League A2 group, beating Israel and France last month.
After a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign that saw them lose to Switzerland in the round of 16, Spalletti insisted that their encounter against Belgium is crucial to their development.
"We will immediately become a great team in every match where we will be able to give the best of ourselves," Spalletti said.
"It is a crucial match for our future."
Spalletti, however, has his eyes set on the 2026 World Cup, a tournament the Azzurri have won on four occasions throughout their history.
But Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 editions of the competition, but have since won the European Championships against England in 2021 under Roberto Mancini.
While Spalletti signified the importance of the World Cup's influence on the Azzurri's illustrious history, he said his players must focus on each game as it comes.
"It is a tournament that has determined our history, it has made many people happy," Spalletti concluded.
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