Jhon Duran: Arsenal target striker BETTER than Haaland

Robin Bairner

• 23 Oct 2024 09:30 BST
• 5 min read

Arsenal have taken steps to sign Jhon Duran from Aston Villa during the January transfer window, with the Colombia sensation outperforming even Erling Haaland in the early weeks of the Premier League season.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal spent much of the summer chasing a No.9 but were put off by high valuations for the likes of Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko.

Despite the form of Kai Havertz, the Gunners are still chasing offensive reinforcements through the middle, and AS reports that their thoughts have turned towards 20-year-old Colombia international striker Duran.

STATS

Jhon Durán

F (C)

Aston Villa

Jhon Durán

F (C)

Aston Villa

All Tournaments

2024/25

• 11

  Games

• 6

  Goals

• 0

  Assists

View all stats

The former Chicago Fire striker has been red hot for Villa this season. Although typically starting as a substitute behind Ollie Watkins, he has seven goals for the campaign in just 404 competitive minutes.

His latest contribution came against Bologna in the Champions League, when he took advantage of a rare start to bag his second goal in the competition after John McGinn had opened the scoring in favour of the Premier League outfit.

Duran, however, was left furious when he was replaced by Unai Emery midway through the second half.

All this will only add fuel to rumours linking him with a move away from the Premier League side, who want “no less than” €90 million to sell the striker.

This is around the mark that Arsenal refused to pay for the aforementioned names in the summer, although Duran does have the bonus of Premier League experience, which is an attribute Arteta is known to value highly and which the Gunners’ other targets lacked.

Better than Haaland!

Although Duran’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) sits at only €22.5m, this is largely due to his lack of minutes at Aston Villa and status as second choice in his role.

When he gets on the field, he is one of the most impressive players in the league, sitting third among Premier League strikers this season in the eyes of data analytics experts SciSports for his overall contribution to his side.

Indeed, Duran rates just ahead of Erling Haaland, whose goal-scoring exploits for Manchester City have caught so many headlines since the start of the season.

Jhon Duran vs Premier League strikers: 2024/25

Interestingly, he is also well ahead of Aston Villa rival Watkins, who has scored four goals in seven Premier League games.

Although Duran is classed as a poacher, he is also a high-risk player, whose style has thrilled Aston Villa fans this season, and despite Arsenal’s interest, he will be very difficult indeed to prise away from Villa Park.