West Ham United transfer collapse saw verbal Jhon Duran agreement made at Aston Villa
Aston Villa verbally agreed to give Jhon Duran a new contract after moves to West Ham and Chelsea collapsed, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian journalist reported via X on 7 October after the announcement of an extended deal for the Colombian at Villa Park that the he had been promised new terms.
Tim Stiedten and Julen Lopetegui had identified the 20-year-old as their top striker target during the summer transfer window [The Athletic, 12 July] but were unable to secure him after multiple bids.
He has since had a storming start to the season under Unai Emery, nearly doubling his goal return for the club with six in their first nine games of the season, nearly all off the bench.
Romano wrote: “Jhon Durán has signed new long term deal at Aston Villa, agreement sealed as part of the plan since August.
“After Chelsea and West Ham deals both collapsed, Villa verbally agreed to give Durán new contract with important salary rise.”
West Ham and Chelsea miss out on Colombian striker
The way the early weeks of the season have worked out it’s impossible to see the failure to sign Duran as anything but a missed opportunity.
But even Villa likely couldn’t have predicted his start and with five Premier League goals in his previous 35 appearances for the club it would have been equally risky for the Hammers to commit a huge fee to him in the summer, especially with their record on big-money signings at the position.
It also looks like Villa were more insistent on keeping him at the time that it might have seemed, if they had promised to give him a new deal even before his eye-catching last few weeks.
Some supporters raised doubts over signing 31-year-old Niclas Fullkrug during the transfer window, and his lack of impact has so far proven them right.
But after 28 Bundesliga goals over the past two seasons there will be hope that once the German international returns from his fitness issues he can start to draw the focus away from what the Irons might have won from Birmingham.
Precious little has gone to plan under Lopetegui so far this term but there were definite signs of life in the 4-1 win against Ipswich, with the attacking trio of Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Mohammed Kudus outstanding.
However, the fact that all three were here under David Moyes shows there is a long way to go before the new-look squad properly clicks.
In other West Ham news, David Sullivan’s response to reported Tim Steidten anger has emerged via sources.
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