West Ham United have confirmed they’ve made an enquiry for Jhon Duran, with club sources lifting the lid on the initial response from Al-Nassr.
The Jhon Duran West Ham saga reignited out of nowhere this week.
West Ham are on the hunt for a new main striker this summer but nobody expected Duran to be back in the conversation.
The Colombian striker was chased all last summer by the Irons.
At one stage Duran looked almost certain to join West Ham after doing the crossed Hammers gesture live on social media when asked about his future at Aston Villa.
Protracted negotiations between West Ham and Villa amounted to nothing, though, as technical director Tim Steidten chose to use his £45m striker budget on two players rather than go all in on Duran.
West Ham Duran saga reignites
Many fans felt Duran was exactly what the club needed and were devastated the move did not go through.
But the story wasn’t over.
Duran had a brilliant first half of the season with Villa but as word of tension between him and Unai Emery emerged ahead of the January window, West Ham entered the running again.
West Ham confirmed they made a staggering £57.5m bid for Duran in the winter window – which would have been a new a club record.
But Villa rejected the offer and sold him to Saudi side Al-Nassr for around £65m.
The Hammers were accused of “faux ambition” over the move.
That was understandable given the board had been making it clear they were close to their limit in terms of PSR wiggle room.
West Ham explained that record Duran bid – confirming it was being made with the view of making sales to offset the cost.
The move to Al-Nassr looked to have put an end to the Hammers’ Duran soap opera once and for all.
But there has been a major twist this week as shock news emerged from Saudi.
It has been claimed Al Nassr are planning to let Duran leave on loan as he has failed to settle in the country and is ‘struggling mentally and personally’.
West Ham confirm Duran enquiry
The news had Hammers fans dreaming again.
Now West Ham have confirmed they have made a Duran enquiry and lifted the lid on the initial response from Al-Nassr.
The story which emerged from a leading Saudi newspaper stated that sources had revealed Duran will be with a new club on loan next season.
With his huge salary making a permanent move anywhere difficult, it was claimed Al-Nassr are sympathetic to the longstanding West Ham target’s situation.
Duran is said to be having ‘difficulties he is facing on a personal level, which have affected his mental state and technical stability’.
So it was stated the club are willing to sanction a loan where they will pay a big chunk of his wages.
It was reported clubs have already expressed a willingness to sign the forward on loan with the ‘final picture regarding Duran’s future expected to become clearer in the coming days’.
Now Hammers News can reveal West Ham have indeed made an enquiry about Duran’s situation.
While supporters should not get too excited yet, the Hammers are clearly interested if anything changes.
The top spokesman for West Ham’s owners has revealed they were told something very different about Duran when they put the enquiry in with Al-Nassr.
Hammers lift lid on initial response from Al-Nassr
But the choice of words suggests things might change.
It was put to the spokesman for West Ham’s board whether the club would be interested in Duran’s situation.
“At the moment he is not available on loan we are told,” the West Ham spokesman exclusively told Hammers News.
While that may disappoint fans, there are two big positives to take.
The first being that West Ham are clearly interested in taking Duran on loan having made an enquiry.
And the second being the words ‘at the moment’ – suggesting they may have been told the situation might change.
One to keep a close eye on as the window develops.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
