Why a deal for Jhon Duran is taking time to complete

The 20-year-old Colombian international has had a frustrating 18 months in England since moving to Aston Villa in January 2023. Unai Emery signed Duran for a fee of £18 million from MLS club Chicago Fire. Since then, he has appeared 49 times for Villa across all competitions but only found himself in the starting XI on ten occasions. Of those ten, only three have come in the Premier League.

As a result, the forward is said to be very keen to leave the club in order to play more regular first team football. As he is currently the understudy to Ollie Watkins it is unlikely he would feature anymore than he has previously next season.

Chelsea held a very strong interest at the start of the transfer window and seemed to be closing in on a deal to sign Duran but their interest faded when negotiations hit difficulty over the players wages and potential attitude problem. Then, a couple of weeks ago it was Chelsea's London rivals West Ham United that submitted a proposal to sign Duran. That proposal was in the region of £35 million, according to Fabrizio Romano, and there hasn't been an agreement between the two club suggesting that Villa may have asked for more money to meet their £40 million valuation.

As a result, it was reported by Sky Sports News that the Hammers' interest in Duran had cooled slightly as they now look to explore other options. Some West Ham fans though believe a deal is still very much on the table. West Ham have very limited options in the forward position with just Michail Antonio and Danny Ings as recognised strikers.

The asking price being set by Villa is a stumbling block and most likely the reason that a deal has yet to be completed. Most clubs feel that the valuation is too high for a player with just three Premier League starts. Villa will argue that his goal scoring ability shown so far justifies the asking price due to the potential he has to go on to become a world class forward.

Another reason that a deal has not been done is that Villa are no longer in a hurry to sell. The PSR deadline of 30th June has obviously now passed and the rushing of the deal that saw Douglas Luiz leave for Juventus was enough to see them over the line in terms of compliance with the rules. Therefore, Villa can afford to take their time over this particular deal. Should a club not meet the asking price then Villa will simply keep Duran and look to sell again either in January or next summer.

It is still likely, however, that a deal will be complete before the end of this window. There is fresh interest from AC Milan and with the player so keen to move on then it is likely that terms can be agreed that will see him leave the club.

Once a deal has gone through and Duran leaves the club it is likely that they will use the money alongside some of the money made by selling Moussa Diaby to buy a replacement forward. Villa will aim to sign a forward with more experience at the top level and would potentially be able to play alongside Ollie Watkins.

UTV