From stories circulating today and with West Ham’s striker predicament, it is clear that there is speculation and rumour widespread that West Ham have again tried to secure supporters’ preferred target Jhon Duran with a huge bid to Aston Villa. On the face of it this would be enormous news if the Colombian was a likely London Stadium recruit after everything that has gone before.
In order to separate fact from fiction, Claret and Hugh contacted our high-ranking source within the club to try and find out the position- so we asked if there was any truth behind the story running today of this ‘mammoth £50 million Jhon Duran bid’.
The reply has highlighted the reality: “We’ve tried, but PSG and a few foreign clubs have outbid us”. So, it would seem that West Ham have tried, and failed, with a pretty enormous bid – although unspecified today – to secure Duran. The lure of Champions League football and eye-wateringly huge amounts of cash is a pretty difficult cocktail for West Ham to match at present.
The reply continued:” We are right up against FFP regulations“- So the Hammers don’t have the scope to increase. Looks like Duran will not be heading toward London Stadium any time soon.
In fairness, the Claret and Hugh source within the club then elaborated that :” We never mention to supporters failed bids as it frustrates them”. Which is true enough, but at the same time it is better to know West Ham have been trying to mix it with the biggest clubs in Europe- even if they have failed.
The usual replies will no doubt arrive on our ‘comments’ section from supporters with 20/20 hindsight complaining ‘if only’ about what West Ham should have done in the summer window. However, I’d take heart from the communications.
It means there IS money to spend, even if not enough to land Duran at reportedly over £50 million. And it is clear there is a huge acknowledgement of the need to bring in a top striker – not just a £10 million ‘unknown’ as was reported by one or two other sources again this morning. Finding one who doesn’t get snapped up by the likes of PSG or Arsenal is a challenge especially in January but there’s still time: Sadly they won’t be called ‘Duran’ though. That much seems pretty certain.
