Jhon Duran already seriously impressed by Philippe Coutinho in Aston Villa training

By Ben Evans

New Aston Villa signing Jhon Duran has been left blown away by Philippe Coutinho’s tricky antics in training.

The 19-year-old arrived from MLS side Chicago Fire last month in a deal worth £18m.

Duran will go straight into Villa’s senior squad, although he’s yet to feature in a matchday squad for the club.

The sale of Danny Ings to West Ham virtually paid for his transfer, and opened up a spot for him in the squad.

Villa also loaned out Cameron Archer to Championship side Middlesbrough who he would have also been competing for minutes with.

Unai Emery has already been earmarked as the perfect manager to help Duran fulfil this potential.

The work to get the best out of him will starting on the Aston Villa training ground, where Duran has already been impressed by Coutinho.

The Brazilian is one of the most decorated players in the Villa squad, and has played for some of Europe’s top clubs.

It’s no surprise that the young Colombian is star-struck by his presence.

Duran impressed with Coutinho in Villa training

Aston Villa posted a clip of Coutinho bamboozling his teammates on Twitter.

His close control keeps two defenders at bay, before he finishes past the goalkeeper with the outside of his foot.

Duran quote retweeted the video, saying: “Fulfilling the dream of seeing this magic live.”

The £125,000-a-week playmaker hasn’t had the best season at Villa.

Initially in Steven Gerrard starting line-up after signing for £17m in the summer, he’s fallen out of favour.

Coutinho hasn’t started a game since October, and picked up a hamstring injury just before the World Cup.

Since then, he’s come on as a substitute in each of their Premier League matches.

Villa have been in a good run of form, and Emery has seemingly found a system that works.

Unfortunately, Coutinho doesn’t feature from the start, although he’s impressed the likes of Duran with his work in training.

The intensity of the Premier League season means there’s every chance Coutinho gets his chance soon.

He’ll need to improve on his pre-World Cup form to stay in the team.

However, the excitement at Villa Park will be when Duran finally makes his debut.