Aston Villa 'rejected' Jhon Duran bid as Graham Potter addresses West Ham striker search
Aston Villa have rejected a fresh bid for striker Jhon Duran, according to a report. Website TBR Football claim the new offer was submitted last week and say that it was turned down – as ‘ well short’ of the fee it would take to even bring Villa to the negotiating table.
The story claims Villa want a deal worth more than £60m – but in today’s market even that seems to be something of a bargain for a player who is attracting interest from across Europe. Indeed big names like PSG and Barcelona are said to be interested in the 21-year-old, while Chelsea have once again been linked.
All of this speculation comes just a few months after Duran signed a new Villa contract and a few weeks after he dislodged Ollie Watkins from the starting line-up – until he earned a three-match suspension for a red card at Newcastle.
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Indeed if Villa were to sell it would only create the additional problem of needing to find another striker themselves – in a matter of weeks.
Hammer boss Graham Potter has been talking about transfers, in the light of Michail Antonio’s recent car accident and an injury to summer signing Niclas Fullkrug.
Addressing the media ahead of the Tuesday night clash with Fulham, Potter spoke about the transfer window: “I wouldn’t say it’s imperative,” he said. “Obviously with the situation with Mich as well, there’s certainly a logical rationale to do something, but again it’s not quite as simple as that.
“So I wouldn’t want to make the wrong decision or do something for the sake of it just because there’s a need, especially in this window which is very complicated.
“But we’ve got some attacking options and there’s players coming back as well, so my focus at the moment is on the team and on how to get the team to function as well as possible, with a view to being competitive and trying to win against Fulham.”
