Ex-Villa striker Duran joins seventh club aged 22

What the report says

BBC Sport reports that former Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran has signed for Benfica on a season-long loan from Al-Nassr. The deal takes the Colombia international to the Portuguese club for the 2026-27 campaign and includes a reported £5.19m loan fee, with Benfica holding an option to buy him permanently for £25.5m at the end of the season.

The move is notable because Benfica become the seventh club of Duran’s senior career while he is still only 22. According to BBC Sport, his path has already taken him from Envigado in Colombia to Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer, Aston Villa in England, Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, Fenerbahce in Turkey, Zenit St Petersburg in Russia and now Benfica in Portugal.

Duran joined Villa in January 2023 for £14m and became popular with supporters, including after scoring a Champions League winner against Bayern Munich. BBC Sport says a proposed move to West Ham did not happen in summer 2024, before Villa sold him to Al-Nassr for £71m in January 2025. He scored eight times in 13 matches for the Saudi club but left on loan after half a season.

His later loans were also brief: the Fenerbahce spell was cut short after Jose Mourinho’s departure as manager, and he then scored three goals in nine games for Zenit. Duran said he was pleased to join Benfica, described the club as Portugal’s biggest, and expressed ambitions to perform well and compete for the title.