Save a prayer! Can Jhon Duran's super-sub success lead Aston Villa to greater glories?

For years, the striker's finish in the 1982 European Cup Final against Bayern Munich has been a defining part of the club's historic tapestry, a crucial moment in their identity.

Nobody will be getting too carried away after Villa repeated history to deliver another stunning success over the Bundesliga heavyweights earlier this month.

But with the news he has signed a new deal through to 2030 in the West Midlands, there's a chance that Jhon Duran's name could become another etched into folklore.

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The Colombian was the second-most expensive transfer to leave Major League Soccer when he swapped Chicago Fire for the Premier League as a teenager last year.

Yet his £18m price tag is starting to look like a bargain in the hyper-saturated transfer market that has been vastly inflated over the past decade as superstars swap clubs.

This year, Duran has played 234 minutes across seven top-flight games and two UEFA Champions League matches, with all of his appearances coming off the bench.

In that time, he has scored five goals - one for just over every half of football he has played. Whichever way you dice it, his return is among the best in Europe this year.

It is not as if Duran has come out of nowhere. He already has a dozen caps for Colombia and was a member of the squad that finished as runners-up at the 2023 Copa America.

Still, his sheer velocity, his attacking verve, his prodigious talent for a screamer - as he showed when he beat Manuel Neuer from distance to down Bayern - all feels revelatory.

Perhaps it is because, unfairly or not, he is in an Aston Villa shirt. For years, the club have been also-rans or relegation candidates, battling around the wrong end of the table.

Unai Emery's revolution has transformed them from a bottom feeder to perhaps a genuine contender since he took the reins in 2022, first into Europe and then the top four.

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Throughout, Duran's impact has been still limited, with other stars such as Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez helping to pave the way towards a brave new frontier.

Now however, with confirmation that he will spend the next half-decade there - providing Villa can fend off the almost certain transfer overtures - he appears set for a bigger stage.

Aston Villa will believe that the sky's the limit - and why not? It has been a long time since they last claimed silverware, but the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place.

Duran's new deal is a statement of intent, the club entrusting their future to a performer yet to discover the extent of his potential.

If he can continue to deliver when the club needs him most - and so far, there's plenty to suggest he can - then supporters might be ready to start dreaming again.

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