Arsenal made recent enquiries over Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran, but the centre-forward looks too expensive for a January move.
Fabrizio Romano reports on his YouTube channel that Arsenal reached out to learn more about Jhon Duran’s situation at Aston Villa over the last few weeks, but they’re yet to formalise any interest in the player.
“Arsenal made a call in recent weeks to understand the situation of Jhon Duran,” Romano said. “Because Sesko, at the moment, no green light from Leipzig. And also Alexander Isak, the dream target of Arsenal, super expensive, very complicated.
“So in recent weeks also Arsenal called to understand the situation of Jhon Duran. But no bid, no direct negotiations with Aston Villa.”
Arsenal are still in need of a striker, and their options seem increasingly limited, as Romano mentions. With the likes of Sesko and Isak off the table, you’d think the chances of a move for Duran would increase.
Yet it would come at a steep cost. Villa have already turned down a £57m bid from West Ham United, and David Ornstein reports for The Athletic that it’s likely to take a bid of around £80m for the club to sell the 21-year-old.
That may prove too much for the Gunners in January, as such a deal would likely affect the business they can do in the summer.
Villa will feel Duran has earned such a price tag, having scored 12 goals in just 1,043 minutes this season.
That’s a goal every 87 minutes on average, and it’s an average that remains largely consistent between the Premier League (89 minutes per goal), Champions League (79 minutes per goal) and League Cup (90 minutes per goal) this season.
There are some questions on the creative side. Duran is yet to provide an assist for Villa in any competition in any season, with his last club assist coming in September 2022.
With those doubts and the question of whether Duran can maintain the same scoring rate if he’s playing every week, £80m seems a high price.