West Ham set to match Aston Villa's valuation for young star

Recently, transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano reported that West Ham's latest offer of £32 million plus sell-on clause and academy talent Lewis Ordford was rejected by Aston Villa. Villa still remain firm on their £40 million valuation for the young talent.

This came as a surprise to both Jhon Duran and West Ham after Duran's agent, Jonathan Herrera recently claimed that he couldn't see any reason as to why the transfer to West Ham won't happen. However, Villa's decision has pushed the Hammers in a dilemma over whether to continue negotiating further for the Colombian forward.

West Ham set to match Aston Villa's valuation for young star

And according to the Daily Mail, West Ham have decided to match Villa's valuation. Jhon Duran at only 20-years-old has adapted well to the pace and physicality of the Premier League. Despite scoring only eight goals in around fifty appearances for Villa, the forward's pace, clinical finishing and his work ethic have convinced Julen Lopetegui to lead the line for West Ham for years to come.

Without a doubt, £40 million is a big transfer fee for a 20-year-old talent. However, considering the Hammers need for a new striker with Danny Ings and Michail Antonio struggling for goals last season due to inconsistency and injuries as they both are well over the age of thirty.

In the last five years, former manager, David Moyes tried his very best to bring a quality striker at the London Stadium with West Ham spending big to sign Sebastien Haller in 2019 and Gianluca Scamacca in 2022 only to sell them both to cut their losses on the transfers.

Now, West Ham should sign Duran quickly and give him time, and trust him to be the striker West Ham have wished to sign for so long.