West Ham is actively pursuing Aston Villa's 20-year-old forward, Jhon Duran. It was reported by transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano, earlier this month that the Hammers made official bids to Villa for the Colombian forward.
West Ham receive massive boost in their hopes to sign Aston Villa star
Since then, there has been no real progress on the deal, however an Italian outlet claimed that West Ham will sign the forward for a transfer fee less than Villa's £40 million valuation. Now, HITC have covered a new update regarding growing optimism about the deal. The report states,
""With Duran wanting to leave Villa Park and the club also eager to offload him, there is a belief that Villa would allow significant add-ons as part of the deal’s structure.HITC
There is now a belief that Villa will consider bids lower than £40million provided that the offer includes significant add-ons""
Thus, it seems obvious that Duran wants more playing time in the Premier League next season and is willing to force a transfer to the London Stadium as well. Aston Villa, on their part, want to cash in a significant profit on Duran from the £18 million they invested in him eighteen months ago.
This comes as a much needed positive update for the Hammers who had concerns about this deal to go similar to Jean-Clair Todibo's. But, the new striker now seems to be in sight to take the starting number nine role from Jamaican forward, Michail Antonio, who has become a West Ham hero in his nine glorious years at the Hammers.
Alongside Duran, Julen Lopetegui can look to add Juventus striker Arkadiusz Milik in a two striker formation partnering the Colombian forward. Throughout his career, the Polish international has thrived in a 4-4-2 formation as a second striker.
Lopetegui is preferred to go with the classical 4-4-2 and Milik can be the ideal short term forward to partner Duran. Despite being 30-years-old, the Polish striker can give around two brilliant years of Premier League football which will ease the sudden goalscoring burden from Duran and also provide West Ham with enough time to find his replacement.