Chelsea given hope for Aston Villa star 'who has blown Emery away'

Tom Weber

• Updated: 4 Oct 2024 09:06 BST
• 4 min read

Chelsea remain interested in Jhon Duran and a January move has been deemed difficult but 'not impossible.'

The Aston Villa striker is quickly becoming the type of player supporters will remember for years to come. Duran's knack for spectacular goals in limited minutes is increasingly making him a cult hero at Villa Park despite the fact that he desperately wanted out in the summer.

Chelsea have been courting the striker since January of this year, while West Ham lodged several unsuccessful bids in the summer in a saga that threatened to turn ugly for Villa when Duran threw up the Hammers sign on an Instagram live.

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However, the Birmingham club remained steadfast and rebuffed the approaches of the London sides and they are now reaping the rewards. Duran has yet to start against a top-flight team this season but he has nevertheless scored six goals already in all competitions.

His latest heroics saw him net the all-important goal that saw Villa claim a famous victory over Bayern Munich in their first Champions League home game in decades.

January move possible?

Earlier this week, Duran's uncle expressed his hope that the 20-year-old's next move would be to Real Madrid, but that seems unlikely at this stage given the significant Premier League interest in his services.

There have been questions over Duran's attitude behind the scenes, but TBR Football claims that the Colombian has 'blown Unai Emery away' with his application and determination in training and on matchdays this term.

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The outlet asserts that Villa view Duran as an integral part of their project and are therefore unwilling to sanction a sale. The only way to break their resolve would be by tabling an unwatering bid.

This is also echoed by TEAMtalk, who report that Emery's side would be reluctant to sell the player in January, but a move is deemed 'not impossible.'

Both state that Chelsea remain interested, but the latter insists that the Blues may have to pay as much as €95 million to land him, a significant premium on the reported €40m-€50m he would have cost in the summer.