Jhon Duran transfer: David Ornstein reveals West Ham questions amid development
West Ham United are unlikely to be able to increase their offer to sign Jhon Duran from Aston Villa, according to David Ornstein.
The Athletic journalist reported on Monday (20 January) that the Irons have offered £57m including add-ons for the Colombia international, but now believes that is not enough to convince the Villans to sell him.
He also revealed that there have been questions about the credibility of the bid around the London Stadium before doubling down on his report that the East London outfit have indeed made a proposal.
“The sort of concrete development is that West Ham bid £57million including add-ons”, Ornstein said on The Athletic FC YouTube channel (25 January).
“It’s not going to get them the player, I don’t think they can go much higher.
“There are many around West Ham questioning how they were even able to go that high.
“Was the bid as credible as it was made out? Well, yes. It was, but it is not going to go any further unless they up it significantly.”
Could West Ham pull off Jhon Duran signing?
Those who have questioned the credibility of West Ham’s £57m bid for Duran cannot be faulted as the Irons may be working on a financial tightrope after spending over £100m on new signings in the summer.
However, it is worth noting that the Hammers are the only Premier League club to finish the year ending 31 May 2024 with a profit.
That, though, does not nullify questions about why the East London outfit are wasting time on Duran with Aston Villa determined to retain his services during the winter transfer window.
Who knows? They might have received the green light to try their luck from possibly the player’s side.
West Ham’s interest in the 21-year-old is not new. They offered Villa £30m plus Lewis Oxford in exchange for the centre-forward in the summer.
It is hard to believe the Irons are making so much effort to sign Duran without receiving encouragement from either Villa or the player himself.
However, if that is not the case, David Sullivan must hang his head in shame.
In other West Ham news, Fabrizio Romano has dropped an exciting update on the Irons’ chase for another striker.
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