It looks like another of the more tedious summer transfer sagas will soon be coming to an end. Jhon Duran is leaving Aston Villa for east London, not west London. The Colombian striker, once the transfer fee is agreed upon and the deal finalized, will be heading to West Ham United, not Chelsea FC.
Here is the latest, via Fabrizio Romano, on the former Chicago Fire FC man.
??? West Ham have already submitted more than one bid for Jhon Durán to Aston Villa.
Understand last proposal currently worth around £35m plus 10% sell-on clause.
Negotiations underway, personal terms already agreed with Durán. ?? pic.twitter.com/hFlBslREUP
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 9, 2024
Villa acquired him from the MLS club for about $18 million (which broke the Fire club record for a transfer sale) in January of 2023. The 20-year-old scorer is valued at about £40m, so we’ll see if WHUFC can meet that price or not. AVFC might have to take less than what they want, because there have been concerns raised about the player’s attitude.
This actually reportedly caused Chelsea to drop out of the Jhon Duran running.
That would not be surprising as the same issue arose during his time in Chicago; as we have covered in the past. West Ham would be a good landing spot for Duran, as they could use some cover for Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.