Aston Villa have unknowingly done West Ham a massive favour worth £57.5m following a shock transfer that’s triggered fury from Jose Mourinho.
The deal could have had major implications for the Hammers’ summer business — and the fallout is already making headlines in east London and at Villa Park.
West Ham and Aston Villa both find themselves grappling with PSR this summer transfer window.
As a result, transfer activity has been restricted at the London Stadium and Aston Villa so far.
The Hammers have had to sell Mohammed Kudus to bitter rivals Spurs for £54.5m to raise funds for Graham Potter to make his own signings.
Meanwhile Aston Villa were forced to exploit a PSR loophole by selling their women’s team to avoid having to offload players worth £40m in order to comply with the financial rules.
Villa have done West Ham a huge £57.5m favour
The sale of Kudus enabled West Ham to go out and make their first signing with left wingback El Hadji Malick Diouf arriving from Slavia Prague in an initial £19m deal.
Both Potter and Unai Emery continue to be linked with a host of players but progress has been slow.
In a transfer update this week, West Ham’s owners described this summer’s market as ‘tough’.
Well it could be even tougher right now if it wasn’t for the Villans.
In fact things could be very different for both clubs.
Because Aston Villa have done West Ham a £57.5m favour as Jose Mourinho hits out after a shock transfer.
And the ‘Special One’ himself has also helped save the Hammers from themselves.
West Ham appeared to have Jhon Duran all but signed when he did the crossed Hammers salute on social media after being asked about his Aston Villa future last summer.
In the end the Irons decided to spend their £45m striker budget on two players rather than go all in for Duran at Aston Villa.
The hot-headed Colombian remained at Villa and enjoyed a storming first half of the season – including scoring the winner at West Ham on the first day of the season.
Jose Mourinho hits out after shock transfer
West Ham tried again in January when it emerged Villa were looking to sell amid rumours of fallouts between the striker and Emery.
In fact Duran stated he and Emery had a ‘love-hate’ relationship in an interview at that time.
It was confirmed West Ham offered a club record £57.5m for the 21-year-old – a move which drew criticism from sceptical supporters.
Villa sold Duran to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr for £65m instead.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Hammers and Villa fans were united in their opinion that it was a waste of talent seeing Duran go to the Middle East so early in his career.
There was a sudden twist last month when it emerged Al Nassr were planning to let Duran leave on loan.
It was stated that the striker had failed to settle in Saudi and was ‘struggling mentally and personally’.
West Ham confirmed they made a new Duran enquiry while he was fleetingly linked with a potential return to Villa too.
But in a shock move given his talent, Duran ended up going on loan to Mourinho’s Fenerbahce instead.
And what’s happened after just two weeks suggests West Ham twice dodged a bullet not signing Duran while Aston Villa are probably well rid of the troublesome star.
Because Duran has infuriated Mourinho already – getting both barrels from the Portuguese.
Mourinho revealed in a press conference that the Colombian had not turned up for their pre-season training in Portugal.
West Ham and Villa dodged a bullet as Mourinho slams Duran
“It’s disrespectful,” Mourinho told a press conference of Duran’s no-show.
“There are clear rules here, and anyone who doesn’t follow them will face consequences.
“We’ll talk to him when he shows up, if he does.”
West Ham have insisted their record bid for Duran in January was real.
The Hammers board explained a fire sale would have been needed this summer to help pay for it had they pulled it off.
So West Ham’s finances would have been even worse off than they are right now.
It seems Villa did themselves a big favour electing to sell Duran, which did not go down too well with their fans at the time.
Their PSR situation would be a whole lot worse if they hadn’t sold Duran.
Potter has talked about getting the team spirit and family feel back around West Ham’s dressing room.
Signing Duran would have been like rolling a grenade into it by the sounds of things.
West Ham fans love a maverick. But Aston Villa clearly saved them from a potential disaster too, in more ways than one.
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