West Ham United: David Moyes should avoid last-gasp January transfer for ‘frustrated’ Aston Villa ace Jhon Duran
David Moyes should abandon his hopes of landing a last-gasp deal to sign Aston Villa ace Jhon Duran at West Ham in the January transfer window.
The Daily Mirror reported on its live transfer tracker on Monday (29 January, 01:38pm) that the Hammers are on “alert” over a potential move for the Colombia international after he’s become “frustrated” with his lack of first-team opportunities at Villa Park this season.
It added that the potential Villa arrival of Middlesbrough forward Morgan Rogers, who has also caught the Irons’ attention this month, could place uncertainty on the 20-year-old’s future in the West Midlands.
There is obviously a reason why the Villans would even be considering allowing Duran to leave this month, having only signed from Chicago Fire in January 2023.
He touched down in Birmingham with plenty of promise after scoring eight goals and laying on five assists in 27 appearances for the MLS side despite still being in his teens at the time.
But he failed to initially adapt to the Premier League after failing to score in his 12 matches last season before registering his first two league strikes earlier in this campaign.
Having started games for Colombia over the past few months, Duran has seemingly become frustrated with his lack of opportunities at Villa Park.
With the first-choice striker Ollie Watkins having an excellent season, the majority of his 23 appearances – where he’s scored four goals – have come off the bench.
There have been rumours surfacing that he’s shown a questionable attitude behind the scenes, with reports coming out about a potential rift with manager Unai Emery a few months back.
The fact of the matter is, Duran has done little to show that he deserves a regular starting spot for a Villa side battling for a Champions League spot this season.
It would likely be a similar situation at West Ham as the forward would need to earn the right to make the starting lineup given the quality already at Moyes’ disposal.
While he looks like a promising player, the last thing the Scotsman needs is for someone to come in and upset the apple cart at the London Stadium.
The Hammers squad is believed to be quite a tight-knit group, so to keep that harmony in place, everyone needs to be singing from the same hymn sheet.
It just feels as though this is a signing that we should be looking to avoid as there is clearly something going on with the player at Villa and that is something we don’t need to be involving ourselves in.
There is every chance that we can compete for another European place this season, so we need players on board who are here to put the team first to achieve our goals collectively.
In other West Ham news, a Premier League club are eyeing a “shock” deal for one Hammers player.
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