Aston Villa have slapped a £75m price tag on Arsenal target Jhon Duran (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal have approached Premier League rivals Aston Villa over a move for Jhon Duran ahead of the January transfer window.
Duran announced himself in the English game with a late double against Liverpool in Villa’s final home match of last season and the striker has picked up where he left off this term, scoring six goals in his opening 11 appearances in all competitions.
However, the 20-year-old’s one and only start since the 2024/25 campaign began came in Villa’s Carabao Cup third-round tie with Wycombe in the Carabao Cup, in which he scored what proved to be the winner.
A goal-of-the-season contender followed in Villa’s stunning Champions League victory over Bayern Munich, but the youngster continues to play second fiddle to Ollie Watkins in Unai Emery’s plans.
The likes of Chelsea and West Ham were linked with Duran in the summer and the forward’s eye-catching form in front of goal has put a number top teams around Europe on alert, according to AS Colombia.
The report claims Arsenal and Barcelona have both asked about the possibility of signing Duran this winter and Villa have been unequivocal with their response: he will be going nowhere for anything less than €90million (£75m).
Villa bosses are aware of the growing interest in Duran and remain relaxed about the situation, with the sought-after Colombia international tied into a contract until 2023.
The Colombian has scored six goals in 11 games for Villa this season (Picture: Getty)
Villa sporting director Monchi recently suggested as many as 40 clubs wanted to sign Duran in the summer but a suitable offer never arrived for the attacker.
‘We have two very strong strikers, him and Watkins,’ Monchi told Sky Italia.
‘Duran wanted to play more minutes, and we needed to sell a player due to FFP, but without an important offer we were convinced he would stay here.
‘Emery has a lot of faith in him: some offers have arrived, there were meetings, but the amount we asked for did not arrive.’
Arsenal have enquired over the availability of Duran (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal were credited with an interest in a host of big-name strikers across the summer, with the likes of Alexander Isak, Benjamin Sesko, Dusan Vlahovic, Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres all rumoured to be targets.
But the transfer window closed and the Gunners still had not strengthened with the addition of a recognised centre-forward, which drew criticism from some supporters after two years with a major trophy.
But Kai Havertz has repaid Mikel Arteta’s faith playing in the No.9 role and the German will be desperate to add to his goalscoring tally over the coming days, with Arsenal facing Shakhtar Donetsk and Liverpool in the Champions League and Premier League respectively.
Gabriel Jesus has flattered to deceive so far this season and is yet to find the net in any of his eight appearances in all competitions for the north London giants.
Raheem Sterling found the net in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup win over Bolton but is yet to get off the mark in the Premier League following his season-long loan switch from Chelsea.
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