Aston Villa have reportedly reached an agreement with Al-Nassr over the signing of Jhon Duran in a deal worth €77m plus add-ons.
The 21-year-old arrived from Chicago Fire in January 2023, and he has since gone on to score 20 goals in 78 appearances for the club.
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However, Duran has been no stranger to speculation as he has been consistently linked with an exit from Villa over the past two transfer windows, but having put a contentious summer behind him, he has shown encouraging signs so far this season.
Beyond his 12 goals in 29 outings, the Colombian international has shown promise in terms of his adaptation and maturity under Unai Emery, with the Villa boss making no secret of his desire to keep him at the club and continue to develop his talent.
It doesn’t appear as though that process will continue for much longer though, as The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that Duran will undergo a medical on Thursday ahead of making the move to join Al-Nassr in a deal worth €77m plus add-ons. He notes that the deal is agreed in principle, while Duran will put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half year deal with the Saudi club.
Fabrizio Romano has also noted the same with the deal seemingly set to go ahead, and with Villa rejecting an offer from Arsenal earlier in the day for Ollie Watkins, it looks as though a decision has been made, which will see him remain as our talismanic frontman, with Emery continuing to favour him as his preferred option to lead the line for us.
In contrast, should Duran’s exit now materialise as expected, it will be a shame to see him leave as he is clearly a top talent with a bright future ahead of him if he focuses on improving and developing, and we’ll miss his impact off the bench and ability to provide competition and depth up front.
That said, it feels as though he is ultimately pushing for this move given Emery has spoken on countless occasions about wanting to keep him at Villa, and so if that is indeed the case, it seems like the sensible strategy to cash in and let him leave, and reinvest those funds to strengthen the squad with a suitable replacement.
