Aston Villa have slapped a ‘Not for sale’ sign on Jhon Duran during this transfer window.
Unai Emery has rebuffed a second attempt by West Ham to prise the forward out of Villa Park as the unwanted spectre of a £57m offer by the Eastenders was fielded by the Birmingham club. The Hammers tried last summer to buy the 21-year-old forward - and the offer was rebuffed - and that answer was unchanged yesterday.
The Spaniard considered the bid to be so far off Villa’s asking price he refused to take the matter seriously and discuss the subject ahead of their Champions League encounter in Monaco tonight. And there is a lingering feeling at Villa that the news was leaked to de-stabilise them on the eve of one of their most important fixtures of the season.
Villa face West Ham in the Premier League this Sunday and there is now likely to be an added edge to the game following their pursuit of the striker.
Duran has become one of the hottest properties in the Premier League following a storming start to the campaign, which has seen him emerge as a serious rival to Ollie Watkins.
The England international remains Emery’s No.1 choice to lead Villa’s attack, but Duran’s 12 goals this season - including the winner in an iconic clash against Bayern Munich - have left him hot on the heels of his team-mate.
Those strikes have come in less than 1,000 minutes spent on the pitch - statistics that have clearly interested a number of different suitors.
Villa revealed they had calls from 40 clubs during the summer when it appeared that Duran might be on the market. But Emery believes the powerful forward has the potential to become ‘ world ’class’ and has already rewarded his form with a new five-and-a-half year contract three months ago.
That, seemingly, has not deterred West Ham - although Villa strongly deny the figures are anything like as high as has been reported.