Aston Villa have reportedly rejected a loan offer with an option to buy from West Ham Utd for forward Jhon Duran.
The 20-year-old joined us from Chicago Fire last January, and has made 23 appearances so far this season, scoring four goals and providing one assist.
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His playing time has been significantly limited though by Ollie Watkins who has been in fine form again so far in this campaign and is cemented as our first-choice option in leading the line, with Duran totalling 662 minutes of football.
Nevertheless, given the lack of competition and depth up front, the Colombian international is a key member of the squad, as he provides Unai Emery with an important option to not only rotate and rest Watkins when needed, but he adds a different dynamic to our attacking play given his physical attributes, and that can be important when trying to break teams down.
In turn, despite his limited role and following significant speculation over his future already this month, it comes as no surprise that The Guardian have reported that Villa have rejected a loan offer with an option to buy from West Ham.
Unless Emery has a replacement lined up first and is confident in the depth that he has at his disposal without Duran, an exit seems highly unlikely, but it remains to be seen how things develop in the coming days before the January transfer window deadline.
Conversely, it could be that Villa are willing to green light a loan stint, but ultimately want Duran to return in the summer having benefited from that experience, and so the inclusion of an option to buy could be a major stumbling block.
It’s added in the report above that Duran is eager to play a more prominent role which is to be expected and fair, but Villa won’t let him leave unless we have an option in mind to fill that void first, while it remains to be seen if the Hammers return with a new offer.
With Duran being at the club for a year now, Emery will have a good idea as to whether or not the talented forward is capable of being a key figure in his plans or not, as he consistently reiterates that he is still developing as a young player and integrating into his philosophy and style at Villa.
On one hand, it could be argued why disrupt the squad now given how well the first half of the season has gone for us. However, if Emery feels that a reshuffle in that department would make us stronger and that he’d be happier with an alternative option being at his disposal while it would be beneficial for Duran to go out on loan, we could see movement between now and the end of the month.