Jhon Duran's Premier League rise highlights what is — and isn't — working in MLS

Thanks to his efficient goal-scoring, Duran is a hot commodity in the Premier League.

Villa reportedly turned down 40 offers for him over the summer because it believed his services were worth more than anything the market could provide in return. Villa's logic appears to have paid off, as Duran has scored three goals in the Premier League this season, all game-deciders.

Duran is only 20, but incredibly, his international soccer story didn't start with Aston Villa. It started in the United States.

Major League Soccer scout Sebastien Pelzer discovered Duran in Colombia when he was just 16 and quickly signed him to the Chicago Fire in 2021. Duran stayed with Chicago for nearly three years, bouncing between its youth and senior teams.

"From the moment I signed with the Chicago Fire, everyone welcomed me with open arms," Duran said, per MLS.com. "The Fire and the city of Chicago will always have a special place in my heart."

Duran looked good but not great during his MLS journey, and when Aston Villa offered Chicago $22 million—a reported club record—for his services, the team quickly accepted. After the deal, Duran exploded into a world-class player while Chicago struggled to stay competitive. 

In many ways, the deal celebrates and indicts Chicago's player development pipeline.

It's incredible that Chicago found Duran toiling for a small club on the outskirts of Medellin. That speaks to an organized, committed scouting department with an eye on the future. But it's telling that Duran blossomed only after leaving Chicago.

The idea that Duran — one of the world's more heralded strikers  — wasn't even considered a senior-team regular in Chicago is absurd, and it unravels all the good work the team did to locate, sell and sign Duran in the first place. 

It seems that Duran stood out to Chicago when he was one of millions of potential signings, but he failed to pop once he was one of a few dozen within the squad's ranks. That's a problem for Duran, who lost a few solid years of first-team action while flitting between the youth and senior ranks, but it's also a problem for Chicago.

Heading into Wednesday's home game versus Nashville, Chicago is 13th in MLS's Eastern Conference, well outside of the playoff positions and unlikely to qualify for the postseason. Its top scorer, Belgium's Hugo Cuypers, scores one goal every 2.7 games in MLS this season. Duran, thriving in the Premier League, is racking up one goal every 1.1.

That club-record $20 million must have felt great for Chicago in 2023, but if it had managed to hang on to Duran — and develop him the way Villa is — it could have had multiples of that figure and a decent shot at an MLS playoff run.

MLS player scouting and development have come a long way, but Chicago's failure to develop Duran proves it still has a long way to go.