At one point in the summer it seemed for all the world that Jhon Duran would join West Ham United from Aston Villa.
Jhon Duran would have taken West Ham to a whole new level entirely, what with his blistering pace and finishing ability, there’s no doubt in my mind about that.
Julen Lopetegui tried, and failed, to bring the 20-year-old Aston Villa striker to the London Stadium, and he had to settle on signing Niclas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund instead.
At one point, it seemed certain that Duran would join the Hammers from Aston Villa, after he did the ‘crossed hammers’ sign during a live stream.
However, we just couldn’t meet Villa’s demands for the Colombia international in the end – believed to be north of £40 million.
That £40 million odd fee is now looking like an absolute bargain.
Villa’s demands for Duran have unsurprisingly now sky rocketed…
How much West Ham will now have to pay to sign Jhon Duran
The South American attacker has begun the 2024/25 season in scintillating form for the Villans, despite not actually playing that many minutes.
Duran has bagged six goals in nine games for Villa this term, having played only 297 minutes of football!
That record really is quite incredible, so it’s not surprising that Villa have slapped a new asking price on his head.
According to TEAMtalk, the West Midlands outfit are asking for £80 million for Duran now.
That obviously puts to bed talk of West Ham making another move to sign Duran for the time being!
If only we would have pushed harder to prise him away from Villa Park two months ago. The Hammers would be flying now had we signed him, I’m convinced of it.
Bargaining cost West Ham millions
Had we signed Duran in the summer for £40 million, we would easily have been able to double that fee by selling him in two year’s time.
The fact that we didn’t just pay Villa what they wanted for the Colombian will continue to haunt us for the rest of this season and beyond.
Fullkrug obviously still needs time to settle into life at the London Stadium, and it’s way too early to judge him just yet.
However, the early indications are that the Hammers made a big mistake by signing the German over trhe Colombia international.
Jhon Duran possesses everything that West Ham lack up front through the middle, what with his explosive pace, exceptional movement and elite finishing ability.
West Ham will live to regret not signing the 20-year-old. Now it will be impossible for us to sign him, with Villa allegedly demanding £80 million for his services.
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