Aston Villa have rejected a second bid from West Ham for Jhon Durán out of hand, with Villa adamant the striker, who they value at about £100m, is not for sale. Duran signed a new contract until 2030 in October last year.
Villa are thought to be livid at the timing of the offer from West Ham, who are not expected to return with another bid after Villa made their position clear on Durán.
The squad, including Durán, are in Monaco for their penultimate Champions League league phase match. Victory over the Ligue 1 club would give Villa 16 points from seven matches, a tally that could be enough for them to qualify automatically for the last 16.
Villa are aware of serious interest in Durán from European heavyweights such as Paris Saint-Germain, who are yet to make a formal bid, but are not willing to entertain a sale for a player they have nurtured since he signed in an £18m deal from Chicago Fire in January 2023.
He has been a revelation for Villa this season. The 21-year-old Colombia forward has jostled for a starting spot with the England striker Ollie Watkins but has been prolific, scoring 12 goals in 27 appearances this term.
“It is my challenge to get the best from them, individually and then collectively,” said Villa’s manager, Unai Emery. “It means maybe playing them together. But we have to work on it tactically because to play with two strikers, properly two strikers, they are not with the same task, because they have to try to help the team as well in our structure offensively and defensively. I tried it before and sometimes it was successful.
“At the moment I think starting this season progressively we were showing the capacity we have to play with both, giving them their roles and helping the team like it did. Hopefully we can get their best performances from here until the end of the season.”
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Meanwhile, Villa are close to strengthening their defence, with the former Nottingham Forest centre-back Loïc Badé poised to sign from Sevilla. The Levante right-back Andrés García is also of interest. Diego Carlos, among Villa’s higher earners, is expected to join Fenerbahce.
Source: theguardian.com
