Gabby Agbonlahor Aims Dig at £75k-a-Week Aston Villa Star

Aston Villa star Jhon Duran came under criticism from club icon Gabby Abgonlahor on Saturday evening after his poor performance against Nottingham Forest - before the former Villans man deleted his post once the Colombian opened the scoring.

Duran was elected to start over Ollie Watkins in the East Midlands following his goal against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek, with the England striker dropping to the bench as Unai Emery continues to reward his players for strong form. But it wasn't an ideal outing from the 21-year-old, leading to Abgonlahor's criticism.

Abgonlahor Slates Jhon Duran For Poor First Half Outing

The Colombian wasn't great in the opening interval but he notched once again in the Premier League

With the on-fire striker - reportedly on £75,000-per-week - scoring yet again in Villa colours, Agbonlahor was left with egg on his face - and although the post on X (formerly Twitter) has now been deleted, fans were quick to screenshot the post from the former Holte End favourite - who scored 74 Premier League goals for his boyhood club.

The post read: “If Watkins had a first half like that...", which was followed by a shrugging emoji.

However, Duran scored with a neat header from a John McGinn cross - though Villa blew their lead by conceding goals in the 87th minute and the 93rd minute, as their slightly underwhelming start to the season continues.

The Birmingham-based club sit three points behind Forest, knowing that a win would have momentarily put them fourth in the Premier League; but their loss could see them slip as far as eighth in the table.

Emery's men are flying in Europe, and two wins over Monaco and Celtic in the final two game weeks of the season will see them mathematically qualify for the last 16 knockout phase, avoiding the play-off stage in the process - but they will be wanting Duran and Watkins on top form.

Watkins has seven goals in 22 games in all competitions, which means the former Brentford star hasn't quite been at his best, compared to his 27 strikes in just 53 games last season. And with Duran notching 11 goals in just 24 appearances, of which only five have been starts, he's certainly knocking on the door for permanent starts in the top-flight and on the continent.

Statistics courtesy of WhoScored. Correct as of 15-12-24.