West Ham United are quite clearly pushing incredibly hard to sign Jhon Duran from Aston Villa this summer.
Jhon Duran was first linked with a move to West Ham United way back in January of 2023 before he ended up joining Villa instead.
Now the Colombia international is once again a target for the Hammers, with Julen Lopetegui thought to be desperate to bring him to the London Stadium.
It was only a couple of days ago when the 20-year-old’s agent admitted that he and his client are in talks with the Hammers.
Claims have emerged suggesting that we’ve agreed a fee with Villa for Duran and then conflicting reports have insisted that that is in fact not the case.
As things stand, Villa are demanding £40 million and the Hammers are only willing to go up to £32 million.
As talented as Duran is, £40 million sounds like an awful lot of cash for a 20-year-old who’s still relatively unproven in the Premier League.
Will common ground be found? Only time will tell, but there has been a very big development indeed it seems…
Jhon Duran to West Ham could be imminent
The Colombia international is clearly trying to push through a move away from Aston Villa this summer.
The Hammers have been chasing him for a few weeks now, and it appears as though we’re now close to making a breakthrough.
Aside from one major stumbling block, there has seemingly been a big stride forward from West Ham overnight.
And now the onus will very much be on the two clubs to sort this deal out as quickly as possible.
According to a report from The Athletic, Duran has actually already agreed personal terms with the Hammers over a five-year deal.
That means that all that needs to happen now is for West Ham and Aston Villa to find some common ground on the transfer fee.
I would very much prefer us not to send Lewis Orford to Villa Park as part of the deal, despite how much I want Duran at the London Stadium.
The 20-year-old striker has everything we need. He’s young with bags of potential, explosive pace and impressive physicality.
Personally, I believe that aside from losing Orford, the only way West Ham will get a deal for Jhon Duran done will be to increase the sell-on percentage clause – perhaps up to the 20% mark.
Whether the Hammers board will be prepared to do that though, remains to be seen.
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