Jhon Duran leaving Aston Villa to join West Ham United this summer apparently could well be back on.
And it’s all intertwined with our move to sign Niclas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund.
West Ham were prioritising a move to bring Jhon Duran to the London Stadium from Villa Park, but Villa were making it incredibly hard to get a deal done for the South American attacker.
It had actually been reported that we’ve even agreed personal terms with the Colombia international, but meeting Villa’s demands for him is proving to be more tricky.
As a result, the Hammers switched their attention to Fullkrug, but personal terms and the structure of the fee are still yet to be agreed upon.
Fullkrug is a proven striker at the very highest level, but the general consensus is that Duran has the potential to become a lot better than the German.
So it was a huge disappointment to see us apparently exit the race to sign the Colombia international striker.
However, a big twist seems to have happened overnight…
Show Villa that we’ve moved on from the Colombian in an effort for them to lower their demands for him.
And if the latest claims are true, that ploy seems to have worked perfectly…
German football reporter Florian Plettenberg has claimed that the Hammers could well walk away from the deal to bring Fullkrug to the London Stadium due to Borussia Dortmund’s demands for the 31-year-old.
They are asking for £25 million for the Germany international, with West Ham only prepared to pay £21 million.
And as a result, Duran is back on the menu, for a much cheaper fee.
It is suggested that personal terms have been agreed with the South American, and Villa want £25 million all in for the 20-year-old – a drastic drop from their previous valuation.
Plettenberg then goes on to say that finalising a deal to bring Duran to the London Stadium will not be an issue.
This is really exciting news. I have to say, I wouldn’t mind West Ham signing Niclas Fullkrug at all, but Jhon Duran is the one I really want.
He possesses explosive pace, is incredibly strong and has a ferocious shot on him. What a signing he could be for us, but we’ll just have to see how this one plays out.
MORE WEST HAM NEWS
West Ham launched a new bid for Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo this week in the hope of killing off interest from Juventus.
Will he come or will he go, that’s the big question?
West Ham have effectively been the frontrunners for the Frenchman since having a bid accepted by Nice weeks ago.
But the 24-year-old put the Hammers on hold while he waited to see if a move to Juventus materialised.
The Italian giants do want the former Barcelona flop.
However, Juve have serious financial issues which dictate they must sell a host of players to raise funds.
Thus far Juve have failed to match West Ham’s offer for Todibo.
Hammers turn the screw on Juve with new Todibo bid
So the centre-back Julen Lopetegui wants to partner Max Kilman remains in a self-imposed limbo.
