Aston Villa unimpressed as dispute issued to West Ham over '£57m' bid

Aston Villa are unhappy at the timing of reports emerging of a substantial bid being made by West Ham United for striker Jhon Duran, Birmingham World understands.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein published on Monday afternoon (January 20) that the Hammers had submitted an official offer totalling £57 million after add-ons. Villa sources dispute that figure - insisting the bid was of far less value - and emphasise Duran is untouchable in this January transfer window.

As regards to the timing, it’s unclear whether Villa are displeased because the bid was received far earlier than the reports emerged, or because it was just before the crucial Champions League clash in Monaco.

Either way, Villa are unimpressed by bids being received after already making their not-for-sale stance clear earlier in the window. Even if West Ham did bid £57 million, that wasn’t never going to be anywhere near enough to secure Duran’s services - and the Hammers would’ve almost certainly known that.

Unai Emery spoke to the media in a pre-match press conference at Stade Louis II just hours after the reports circulated but he didn’t comment on the situation.

Why Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran isn’t for sale

Still only 21 years of age, Duran has scored a mighty 12 goals in just 986 minutes across all competitions this season. The striker has a noticeable ‘shoot on sight’ mentality and it’s proved pivotal with memorable goals from outside the box against Everton, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig so far this campaign.

It’s been an intriguing battle between Duran and Ollie Watkins as to who leads the line regularly for Villa. Both could feasibly play together but Emery has been careful to not stray too far away from his ideologies and the rigid structure he values so highly.

Emery didn’t reveal any transfer business on Monday evening - let alone the viral Duran talk - but he was happy to discuss that very potential of Duran and Watkins starting together. It’s a concept the head coach is very excited about but patience is needed to get the logistics right.

“It is my challenge to get of them the best individually and then collectively - that means maybe playing them together,” Emery admitted.

“But we have to work it tactically because to play with two strikers - properly with two strikers - they are not with the same task playing together. They have to try to help the team as well in our structure tactically, offensively and defensively.

“I tried it before and it sometimes it was successful. After one month more or less with Jhon Duran out of the team (through suspension), again we are recovering the work we did before. Of course, I think we are going to watch those players playing together.

“As well, I think I can find a solution to play at the beginning in the starting eleven together. But they have to try to understand their role, I think at the moment starting this season progressively we were showing - more or less - our capacity to play with both.

“Hopefully we can get of them the best performances from here until the end of the season.”