West Ham United hold talks with £10m Jhon Duran, advantage over Liverpool and Manchester United
Jhon Duran has been spoken to by West Ham over a move to the London Stadium in a January deal, according to a report from The Sun.
The Colombian forward, 18, is already being chased by Manchester United and Liverpool, with Everton also now interested, after being an “instant hit” for Chicago Fire in MLS.
He has scored eight times and assisted five more from 27 appearances in his first season in the American league, and is reportedly valued at £10million.
According to Alan Nixon in The Sun: “It’s understood Chicago could be prepared to sell following their disappointing season.”
And despite having two of the Premier League’s ‘big six’ in for him, the youngster is reportedly being advised to avoid moving to a giant club in case he gets lost in the squad.
He is instead being urged to go somewhere that will give him the opportunity to play games at a “high level”, potentially opening the door wider for West Ham.
Opportunity
Gianluca Scamacca has shown signs that he could settle into the role of leading striker for the club after his big-money summer move.
But he has been inconsistent since his arrival from Sassuolo, and Michail Antonio, who for so long led the line without support and did an admirable job, so far only has two goals in the league from five in all competitions.
The Jamaica international is now 32, and while he isn’t on the brink of retirement just yet he is clearly closer to the end of his career than a teenager.
So there could be room for a youngster to be added to the forward rotation in east London, if David Moyes can convince him that enough game time is available.
The Scot has struggled to integrate his new signings so far so there may be an argument that says adding more to the squad is not the answer, but if Duran is highly rated enough to have already attracted four Premier League sides after a single season in MLS this could be an opportunity he can’t pass up.