West Ham United to pounce for transfer as Jhon Duran increasingly unhappy at Aston Villa issue

Jhon Duran is growing increasingly frustrated with a lack of starts for Aston Villa as West Ham continue to chase a deal for him, GiveMeSport reports.

According to the outlet via their website on 27 October the Colombian striker is still a transfer priority for the Hammers, having missed out during a protracted pursuit in the summer.

Duran, 20, has been in spectacular form so far this term, scoring seven times despite only seeing 437 minutes of action in total across all competitions [Transfermarkt].

He has only started two of his 13 games, none in the Premier League, as he remains behind Ollie Watkins under Unai Emery and West Ham could reportedly "pounce" take advantage and do a deal for the "electric" forward.

West Ham want frustrated Michail Antonio successor

If Villa weren't willing to do a deal for Duran before his eye-catching start to the season they are surely going to even less interested in doing so now.

The forward was already effectively agitating to head to the London Stadium the first time around and yet he exploded in the early games and signed a new contract anyway.

From the Hammers' perspective they are quite likely willing to spend more money than they would stretch to in the summer, since Duran has likely proven himself more this season than he had previously in England.

Yet, after spending around £150million on the summer recruitment, and questions being asked behind the scenes on much of it [The Guardian, 21 October], it has to be doubtful that they can even afford the massive price tag he no doubt has for a while.

It would hardly be surprising if the Villa star is getting frustrated at not being the top man as long as he keeps performing, but whether it is anywhere close to being something that would see him depart is another matter.

Watkins, 28, has hardly slumped with five goals this season himself, and 75 in the past four-plus seasons, so the hierarchy looks like it makes sense still.

Michail Antonio will need a replacement for the Irons sooner rather than later as the 34-year-old slows down, but at this stage the priority for Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui is surely to get Niclas Fullkrug fit and firing first.

In other West Ham news, the Irons have started work towards potentially replacing Loptegui with an in-demand manager.

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