Despite a fantastic transfer window, there is no escaping the fact many fans were disappointed West Ham didn’t sign Jhon Duran from Aston Villa.
The on-off, will he, won’t he Jhon Duran saga involving West Ham and Aston Villa went on for over two months.
West Ham made Duran their prime striker target in the summer. And with the Colombian restless at being back-up to Ollie Watkins, the general consensus was that Aston Villa would sell him to the Hammers at the right price.
That price was between £35-40m and – as Hammers News reported exclusively back on July 13th – West Ham made it clear to Villa they wouldn’t meet that asking price.
So it transpired as West Ham technical director Tim Steidten grew tired of the back and forth with Aston Villa counterpart Monchi
Duran has already made it perfectly clear he’s open to leaving Villa amid West Ham’s interest.
This week a source close to Hammers majority owner David Sullivan claimed the Hammers could strike a deal with Villa for Duran next week once the Copa America final is out of the way.
Villa have since brought back striker Cameron Archer from Sheffield United and Emery is re-signing attacker Jaden Philogene too.
With a big money move also in the offing for Amadou Onana, Villa are set to take spending past £100m.
West Ham have declined to confirm whether they made a last-minute attempt to sign Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran on transfer deadline day.
Reports surfaced yesterday of an 11th-hour offer for the Colombian striker, whom the Hammers had pursued throughout much of the transfer window.Previously, it was believed that West Ham’s final bid of £37 million for Duran was made at the beginning of August, with Villa rejecting the Irons’ third and final offer. The situation appeared resolved when Tim Steidten returned to Germany to sign Niclas Füllkrug from Dortmund, closing the chapter for many.
However, new reports of a last effort to sign the 20-year-old forward prompted C&H to contact a top source at the club for clarification. The high-ranking Hammers insider responded, “Stuff like that is confidential; we needed Ings out, and he didn’t want to go anywhere.”
While not a complete denial, it’s understandable why the club would keep such matters under wraps. Reading between the lines, it’s safe to assume West Ham might have pursued Duran again had Ings moved on.
Unfortunately, with two goals in three games, it may prove difficult to sign Duran in future windows for the originally quoted £40 million price.