Fabrizio Romano reveals Jhon Duran transfer truth

Suraj Radia

• 26 Sept 2024 18:30 BST
• 3 min read

Fabrizio Romano has revealed the situation surrounding the future of Jhon Duran after a blistering start to the season for the Aston Villa youngster.

Duran has already scored five goals in all competitions this season, with four of those coming in the Premier League despite all four of his appearances coming from off the bench.

The 20-year-old was close to leaving Villa during the summer, however deal with West Ham and Chelsea couldn’t be agreed and Duran has remained with the club despite being behind Ollie Watkins in Unai Emery’s hierarchy of strikers.

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Barcelona have recently been reported as considering Duran as a potential target but Romano insisted any rumours were far of the mark, saying: “Barça are not actively working on a deal for Jhon Duran now, absolutely. All the rest is speculation.

“We will see in summer 2025 but mentioning this story now it's completely not true in the sense that Barça are not having contacts for this deal.

“Several Premier League clubs are monitoring his growth and in the summer Chelsea and then West Ham wanted him, but now he's doing great for Villa so it's a completely different story.”

Duran likely to leave in search of first team football

Barcelona are considering long-term successors to Robert Lewandowski, with Duran’s name thought to be on the list to replace the Pole, who has two years remaining on his contract.

Duran, meanwhile, still has four years left on his deal at Villa Park and his recent form suggests an exit will not come cheap, having already had a pricetag in excess of €50 million during the summer.

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During his time in England, Duran has boasted an astonishing goals-to-minute record, scoring nine Premier League goals in 721 minutes – the equivalent of around eight full matches.

However, the form of Watkins has prevented Duran from establishing himself as a starter since his €16.65m transfer from Chicago Fire in January 2023.

Current ETV

Jhon Durán

F (C)

Aston Villa

Jhon Durán

F (C)

Aston Villa

€7.5M

ETV Range

€5.6M - €9.4M

View full profile

Just three of Duran’s 37 appearances have been as starts and the striker has never hidden his desire to leave Villa, having streamed himself doing the ‘Irons’ gesture while he was in talks with West Ham over the summer.

Villa are unlikely to consider a mid-season sale for Duran but his departure could be likely next summer unless he ousts Watkins as Emery’s preferred choice up front.