Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has taken his side to great heights already this term. However, one reporter doesn't buy that one of his players is injured at the moment amid rumours of a rift between the man in question and the Spanish coach.

Unai Emery's no-nonsense approach at Villa

Despite the Villans' excellent start to the Premier League campaign, reports of players being disillusioned at Aston Villa haven't been too far away from media circles in recent months.

According to a report from Football Insider last month, Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans was believed to be unhappy with his role in the first-team squad and had been seeking a move away from the club in January amid tensions with Emery.

At the time, the report indicated that Tielemans had told people close to him that he would be happy to leave Villa Park at the earliest opportunity; nevertheless, it is unclear whether things have changed since then for the Belgian international, who is still predominantly featuring as a substitute.

Further reports earlier this month claimed that loanee Clement Lenglet was also having difficulties settling into life at Villa Park, which could lead to Barcelona ending his loan agreement at the West Midlands-based outfit in January. The information put forward suggested that part of his trouble was his failure to win over Villans boss Emery, something that looks to be a common theme among members of his squad that are yet to lay claim to regular minutes under his tutelage.

Formerly a France international, Lenglet has mustered just three appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa since joining in the summer, with all of his outings coming in the Europa Conference League (Lenglet statistics – Transfermarkt).

Now, reporter Dean Jones has had his say regarding one player at Aston Villa who is believed to be out with an injury concern, though this storyline does not convince the transfer expert.

Dean Jones verdict on Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, reporter Jones has signalled his doubt over whether Jhon Duran really is out with a supposed toe infection that has seen him miss some recent action for Villa.

Jhon Duran statistics 2023/24 – all competitions (Transfermarkt)

Appearances

12

Goals

4

Assists

0

Cited by the Shropshire Star, Emery has denied any notion of a rift with Duran; however, Jones believes that there is more beneath the surface to the Colombian's recent absence and thinks it would be a "huge coincidence" if it were purely to be down to an injury concern.

Jones stated about Duran: "It does seem like a huge coincidence for Duran to be missing at this particular moment in time. But I also think that this kind of goes hand-in-hand with Emery's hardline management standards. I think that he will have set out very clearly to the players what he expects of them in terms of their behaviours on and off the pitch. If you don't adhere to that, I genuinely think you're going to be struggling to win him over."

Emery is a man known for ensuring his players adhere to his philosophy on and off the field. and it will be intriguing to see how much Duran features for Aston Villa over the coming weeks.