Aston Villa are said to be furious with West Ham after details of a £57m bid for Jhon Duran were leaked in the press.
The Jhon Duran saga between West Ham and Aston Villa took a new twist this week.
West Ham reignited their interest in Duran with a £40m offer to Aston Villa two weeks ago.
The bid was rejected out of hand and Hammers fans criticised the club’s owners for the low-ball offer having refused to meet Villa’s asking price in the summer.
West Ham were not done there, though.
Athletic journalist David Ornstein revealed West Ham made a new £57m bid for Duran on Monday.
The sensational news emerged somewhat out of the blue amid the Irons being linked with bargain basement striker loan deals elsewhere.
With David Sullivan back in charge of transfers, most Hammers fans questioned the seriousness of the bid.
But some West Ham supporters felt the arrival of a second, much-improved offer suggested the club were getting encouragement from Duran or Villa that a deal might be there to be done.
Jordan’s explosive Sullivan accusation after West Ham’s Villa fallout
Journalist Graeme Bailey claims the Colombian is up for the move as he continues to find himself second choice at Villa Park behind Ollie Watkins.
Villa rejected West Ham’s latest offer, though.
West Ham said it was time to ‘accept defeat and move on’ from Duran.
But according to the likes of the Express and Star, Aston Villa are angry with West Ham for allowing details of the bid to be made public before their big Champions League game against Monaco.
West Ham reject Thilo Kehrer had both Watkins and second half sub Duran in his pocket as Monaco won 1-0.
Before and after the game, Unai Emery sat in silence as Aston Villa’s press officer warned the gathered media that he would not be discussing West Ham’s bid for Duran.
Villa have also let it be known to local press in the Midlands that they viewed West Ham’s offer as ‘derisory’ and insisted it was ‘some way short of the £57million plus add-ons bid pushed by the Hammers in the media’.
Well now one member of the media who doesn’t mince his words when it comes to West Ham and majority owner Sullivan has had his say.
Simon Jordan has made an explosive Sullivan accusation after West Ham’s Aston Villa fallout.
Jordan slams ‘typical’ Sullivan over Duran bid
It was exactly three years ago to the day that Jordan accused Sullivan of ‘phantom bids and faux ambition’ in a rant about his moves for Leeds duo Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha.
Now he has savaged Sullivan again, labelling him ‘insidious’ and saying West Ham’s bid to Villa for Duran was essentially fake.
“It’s a typical Sullivan tactic (low-balling),” Jordan said on talkSPORT, which you can see below.
“They make bids that they know aren’t going to be successful. Because it creates a noise about them and makes them look like they’re trying to do business.
“I had him try and do it to me with Andrew Johnson. He announced to the press that he’d made a bid and it must have been sent by carrier pigeon because I never got it, never saw it during my time.
“They know that Aston Villa don’t want to sell this player… here’s a news flash for you David, they’ve just recently signed him on a longer term contract, they’re in control of their own destiny.
“So you can’t offer them money, they’ll tell you what they want for him and you’ll either meet their expectation or you won’t.
“So to put it out in the public domain that ‘we’ve bid £57m for a player that Aston Villa have just signed a new contract with, that have told you they want £80m, what’s the purpose of that then?
“It’s not a negotiation, it’s not a debate. Aston Villa tell you what they want.”
The fallout from the situation should make for an interesting sub-plot when the two sides meet again this Sunday.
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