Latest odds: Who will sign Jhon Duran? West Ham favourites despite rejected bid

Imago

Jhon Duran’s future at Aston Villa has come under scrutiny, following West Ham’s interest in the striker. 

The Hammers are reported to have submitted two bids for the 21-year-old in the last week, with both being rejected. 

West Ham’s second offer is thought to have reached £57m, still some way short of a valuation in excess of £70m.

It's claimed that Aston Villa do not want to sell Duran, with Unai Emery’s team still competing on three fronts in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League this season. 

Yet it seems like a deal was there to be done last summer, with West Ham interested in the Colombian, but ultimately put off by his then valuation of £45m.

That figure now looks like a bargain, with Duran having featured regularly for his club and catching the eye with 12 goals in 27 games across all competitions. 

Seven of those goals have come in the Premier League from 19 appearances.

Duran has often come off the bench with great effect and is averaging a goal every 86 minutes this season in the English top flight. 

Standing in his way of becoming Aston Villa’s regular starting striker is the tried and tested Ollie Watkins.

The England international has not hit the heights of last season when he scored 27 times, but has found the net in Villa’s last two outings to take his current tally to 10 goals in 29 games. 

Though there is a desire to retain Duran during the January window, he is sure to attract plenty of attention if Watkins is preferred. 

Emery has spoken about the possibility of playing the two strikers together, but erred on the side of caution when discussing the subject. 

He said: “It is my challenge to get the best from them, individually and then collectively. It means maybe playing them together.

“But we have to work on it tactically because to play with two strikers, properly two strikers, they are not with the same task, because they have to try to help the team as well in our structure offensively and defensively.”

With Aston Villa currently battling for European qualification and trying to make it through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, it would be a risk for Emery to alter his tactical plan. 

For now, he is likely to persist with playing with a lone striker and to try and keep both players happy. 

But in the long-term that could be difficult, with Duran’s patience being stretched by both his lack of minutes and the interest of other clubs. 

Currently there are odds at being offered at top UK bookmakers on which team the player might sign for before the transfer window closes on 3 February.

West Ham are the favourites at 2/5, with Manchester United at 6/1 and any French club priced at 8/1, amidst rumours that Paris Saint-Germain are interested in Duran. 

All odds were accurate at the time of publishing.