Aston Villa duo set to leave the club this summer

The deal taking Douglas Luiz to Juventus is set to be confirmed within the next 48 hours. The deal is set to see receive around £20 million as well as Weston McKennie and Samuel Iling-Junior heading to Villa Park in exchange.

Meanwhile, another name that has been linked with an exit from the club is Colombian forward Jhon Duran. Chelsea have been long time admirers of the forward who has been frustrated by the lack of opportunity to play at Villa. With Unai Emery making Ollie Watkins the main man up top, Duran has often been limited to appearances off the bench and the belief is that his patience is running thin.

The 20 year-old who scored 8 goals in all competitions for Villa last season has been seen to be very active on social media in showing his admiration for Chelsea and Chelsea themselves are keen on the player. It was very clear that Mauricio Pochettino was keen on Duran and was likely to make a move for the young forward this summer, before he exited the club a few weeks ago. Despite Pochettino's exit, Chelsea remain keen on adding a striker to their squad this summer and Duran is right at the top of that list.

According to Jacob Steinberg, reporter for The Guardian, Villa are expected to demand a fee of £40 million for the man they signed for just £14 million from the MLS in January 2023. Duran has shown real talent and an ability to impact games this season, as well as showing that he can become easily frustrated and can lack discipline.

Should Villa get the £40 million fee for Duran, Unai Emery and his staff will consider that very good business. With Unai Emery and Villa also rumoured to be heavily interested in bringing Conor Gallagher to the club from Chelsea, don't be surprised if another swap deal might occur.

The other name that seems to be looking likely to leave Aston Villa this summer is Alex Moreno. According to reports in Spain, Moreno is said to be eager to return to Real Betis 'as soon as possible' and is willing to take a hefty pay cut in order to make it happen.

The left-back was a revelation during his first season at the club. Having signed for Villa from Real Betis for £13.3 million in January 2023 Moreno quickly slotted into the team and made an immediate impact on the pitch. His link up play and connection with Jacob Ramsey down the left hand side was a significant factor in Aston Villa's serge up the table and ultimately qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League.

However, a hamstring injury suffered against Liverpool in the penultimate game of the 22/23 season saw Moreno go on to miss over 4 months of action. He returned to the team for a brief period and certainly wasn't looking like the player he was before. He then suffered another injury in April that has kept him sidelined ever since.

Most fans believe they have seen the best of Moreno and he won't return to the form he showed in his first season, and are therefore not too disappointed to see him potentially depart. With Iling-Junior likely to arrive from Juventus, who is a left wing-back, it would likely pave the way for Moreno to return to Spain.

UTV