HITC reports that West Ham United are still keen to sign Aston Villa striker John Duran this summer, despite signing Niklas Flukluk.
The Hammers are hoping to further bolster their striker options by releasing Danny Ings ahead of the 2024/25 season and replacing him with Duran, with the Colombian still very keen on a move from Aston Villa, meaning the Hammers could potentially sign Duran on a loan deal with an obligation to buy.
With West Ham’s three potential strikers all over 30, Lopetegui and Steiten want to lower the average age of their forward candidates and both believe 20-year-old Duran is the perfect man to achieve this.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the chances of this deal happening are extremely slim. The only way it could happen is if John Duran makes a noise, which is unlikely if he doesn’t play in Villa’s first few games. He’s already done a lot to find a transfer target, with the Colombian deleting all Aston Villa-related posts from his Instagram and appearing to make a crossed-hammers gesture during a livestream a few weeks ago.
The Hammers open the season against Aston Villa and it will be fascinating to see whether Duran steps up to the occasion, as scoring a last minute winner against us at the London Stadium would be typical West Ham fashion.