For any striker, a run of five goals and two assists from just four league games is something to be proud of. For 18-year-old Jhon Duran, however, is acts as justification for all the faith Chicago Fire showed in him when making the teenager the youngest international signing in MLS history when arriving from Colombian outfit Envigado in 2021.
“I’ve said this from the beginning, they both have very, very high ceilings,” Fire coach Ezra Hendrickson says of Duran and fellow teenager Brian Gutierrez.
“If we talk about Jhon, he is a player that, once he gets it all together, can be really, really special. He has all the tools. The ceiling is very, very high. He’s a very tough guy to handle for defenders in this league.”
Fast, strong, direct, good in the air and a capable finisher with both feet, Hendrickson is right when he says Duran has ‘all the tools’ required for a top-level centre-forward.
Reports suggesting he has caught the eye of Lille, Eintracht Frankfurt and PSV – not to mention Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool – would distract many a young player from the task at hand. But Duran, down to earth and honest, is not the type to get carried away.
Will MLS wonderkid Jhon Duran join Luis Diaz at Liverpool?
“It’s just (about) putting in the work,” the Colombian says, explaining his emergence as a Major League Soccer matchwinner.
“The hard work of the team also helps me. But, mostly, it’s wanting to do the right things. And to keep working hard so that you can keep doing the right things. And also, it’s listening to people around you.”
Duran scored just three times in his first 22 MLS matches for Chicago Fire. With five in his last four, however, the damn has been well-and-truly broken. And the goals are now flowing at a remarkable rate for one so young and inexperienced.
A first ever international appearance for Colombia was a fitting reward for his sudden emergence across the pond. Duran replaced the legendary Radamel Falcao in a clash with Guatemala last month.
“It is one of the most important days of my career,” Duran beamed after coming on for Falcao at half-time. “I worked hard for this. And to be given this at a young age is a very great blessing. This is something very beautiful and very emotional for me and my family.
“Falcao is one of the best references in that position.”
According to Pipe Sierra, who broke the news of Luis Diaz’s move to Liverpool, the Reds sent a scout to watch another exciting young Colombian recently. Chicago Fire would reportedly consider bids in the region of £9 million.
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