Aston Villa had to resist Premier League interest to sign Jhon Duran and have spent two years since rejecting bids. Liverpool and Man Utd were quoted £10m.
There are well-known Chelsea and West Ham stories, but most Premier League teams will not have been stunned by Duran’s rise; many have already tried to sign him before.
Arsenal
There is a creeping suggestion that Arsenal should target Duran in the future, but that noise seems to be emanating almost exclusively from a giddy fanbase ready to be hurt again after the Dusan Vlahovic, Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres sagas.
In terms of actual concrete interest, a couple of stories have cropped up recently but none from a reputable source yet. Dwight Yorke “would take a chance on him” as “Arsenal haven’t got an outstanding No. 9”.
The only slight issue appears to be that Duran is indeed not Danny Ings.
Bournemouth
Despite breaking their transfer record on Evanilson while boasting some solid Colombian heritage with Jefferson Lerma and Luis Sinisterra, it seems Bournemouth have never really been in the hunt.
Brentford
The Bees were cited as having made an ‘offer’ for a teenage Duran around Christmas 2022, when their main competition was thought to be Benfica and Fulham. Had he joined the former, the Colombian would have likely quadrupled the transfer world record already, especially considering the Portuguese side rinsed Chelsea for £106.8m that winter.
Brentford were unsuccessful in their pursuit, instead signing Kevin Schade on loan from Freiburg. They did sign a player from MLS in January 2023: the now retired Romeo Beckham.
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Brighton
Few unearth South American gems nearly as effectively but to their presumed eternal shame, Brighton never spotted Duran on their Colombian radar despite the rave reviews he was earning with Envigado and as a youth international frequently playing above his age group.
The Seagulls did dip into such markets in January 2023, signing future Leicester loanee Facundo Buonanotte from Rosario Central.
Chelsea
In another worrying sign that Todd Boehly and Chelsea might actually have known precisely what they were doing all along, the Blues have repeatedly been caught sniffing around Duran.
The first links emerged in late 2022 but Chelsea were unable to bring the forward in alongside Chicago Fire teammate Gabriel Slonina. Duran’s details were obviously kept on file at Stamford Bridge because they flirted again with a move in January 2024 and pushed once more that summer as his value sky-rocketed.
A strike-force of Duran and Nicolas Jackson would have been absolute box office.
Crystal Palace
The first Premier League side to have the privilege of conceding a proper Duran corker, Palace were in the middle of their identity crisis between the reigns of Patrick Vieira and Roy Hodgson so were not particularly focused on making good signings.
In January 2023 they instead spent £9.7m on Naouirou Ahamada and loaned Albert Sambi Lokonga. Again, good signings were not their priority.
Everton
The only Premier League club not to make a single signing in the January 2023 transfer window, Everton were never likely to emerge victorious once the interested parties and thus cost started to multiply. But they were said to be targeting Duran the October before, when the apparent private advice was for the forward to prioritise playing opportunities for a ‘lesser’ team rather than joining a more illustrious suitor with whom minutes would be restricted.
Finding that Villa middle ground was a masterstroke for all involved.
Fulham
Not only were Fulham interested along with Brentford before Duran changed the fabric and history of the Premier League forever, but the Cottagers were seemingly one of the “40 clubs” Damian Vidagany suggested Villa were approached by to enquire over the forward in summer 2024.
It is another sign that Fulham have cracked this transfer lark.
Ipswich
It turns out League One promotion contenders Ipswich were not in the running to sign Erling Haaland’s idol. Liam Delap has helped alleviate that disappointment.
Leicester
No links with Leicester but Duran did make his Villa debut against the Foxes in a 4-2 home defeat in February 2023; things have changed a little since.
Liverpool
Somehow not content with the inherent and maddening chaos of Darwin Nunez, Liverpool were at the forefront of the initial Duran rush in late 2022. The same scout which helped justify their decision to track Luis Diaz earlier that year was sent to watch an MLS game or two and it was said that a fee of £10m or so could have tempted Chicago Fire into doing business.
A couple of months later that number was almost doubled by a prescient Villa. It is not particularly surprising that Liverpool have not revisited their initial interest since.
Manchester City
It is an association which should never be permitted on the grounds of fairness, but once Haaland leaves the reports of interest should emerge. Once Pep Guardiola aggressively accosts Duran on the pitch after a game to praise him, the world will know the deal is done.
Manchester United
Even in these hilariously fallow years, it is to be expected that a club with the reach and means of Manchester United have some near-miss story on every phenomenal talent they almost signed. The scouting department has not escaped the current culture of restructure at Old Trafford but even in its least competent form they accidentally stumbled upon a £4m-rated Moises Caicedo a couple of years before he became the most expensive player in Premier League history.
Duran was similarly detected early on as Manchester United joined that handful of English clubs who sensed something special. They were quoted around £10m too but their only attacking signing in January 2023 was Wout Weghorst on loan because those Antony instalments weren’t going to pay themselves.
Newcastle
It feels like Newcastle have missed the boat somewhat with Duran, as only now are they said to be exploring a move for the Colombian in a mild panic over replacing Callum Wilson, which is a bit like buying an iPhone 427 because your Walkie-talkie is a bit knackered.
The Magpies were forced to spend £20m on a goalkeeper they didn’t want in Odysseas Vlachodimos due to a PSR panic last summer so they are definitely about to chuck around nine-figure sums soon.
Nottingham Forest
It is perfectly feasible that Forest might have been among the queue which formed for Duran in the summer. They pushed for Santiago Gimenez, Omar Marmoush and Eddie Nketiah in the futile chase of a striker not named Chris Wood, and are legally obliged to at least ask about the availability of any professional association football player.
Since promotion to the Premier League in 2022, Forest have signed players from Argentina, Brazil and Costa Rica but Colombia’s finest remains untapped. Duran in the same team as Murillo would not be at all sustainable.
Southampton
Perhaps the single worst transfer window in Premier League history did not include the capture of prodigious brilliance. It did see what is likely to forever remain the only signings in Nathan Jones’ top-flight managerial career:
Mislav Orsic (£8m for six minutes and a substantial loss when he was sold five months later)
Paul Onuachu (£18m for no goals in 411 minutes)
James Bree (13 of 17 league starts were in the Championship)
Kamaldeen Sulemana (a club-record £22m for two goals, both in a ridiculous final-day draw with Liverpool long after relegation had been confirmed)
Carlos Alcaraz (actually pretty good, to be fair)
But no Duran.
Tottenham
There has been an undeniable shift towards identifying and securing players of such ludicrous potential but the Spurs net was never cast far nor wide enough for Duran to slip through.
The only forward they signed in January 2023 was Arnaut Danjuma on loan. And to be fair he has also scored the only goal in a 1-0 Champions League home win over Bayern Munich managed by Unai Emery. The similarities end there.
West Ham
Waiting patiently for chances behind Ollie Watkins is one thing but the alternate timeline on which West Ham sign Duran this summer for £40m and sit him down on the bench to take notes on Michail Antonio does not bear thinking about.
If Duran was ever to join another Premier League club it would have been West Ham. They were credited with an interest in late 2022, failed with a loan approach to Villa in January 2024 and were knocked back again that summer when making a part-exchange bid.
Duran stoked the fire by making the Irons sign at the height of speculation but the Hammers soon inevitably experienced his ridiculousness first-hand and no longer will they be in the running to harness it.
Wolves
Simon Le Bon provided an impossibly perfect template for a fan chant about this very specific transfer 42 years ago but the chance has surely been and gone.
MORE ON JHON DURAN FROM F365
👉 ‘Laura Woods naked’ beats Jhon Duran for clicks as Villa fans ‘spot’ stuff
👉 ‘Up the f***ing Villa and ¡Vamos Colombia!’ as Champions League comes alive
👉 Jhon Duran and Unai Emery stun Bayern to put Aston Villa on euphoric path to Champions League norm
