'Bid rejected' - Aston Villa rebuff Premier League rivals' stunning striker offer amid £100m claim

West Ham have lodged an offer of £57 million including add-ons to try and lure Duran to the London Stadium, reports The Athletic.

The Hammers have been interested in signing Duran for the past 12 months and saw a bid of £30 million plus teenage midfielder Lewis Orford rejected in the summer. Their latest offer - totalling nearly double that of their previous - is also expected to be turned down.

Duran, still just 21 years of age, has scored an impressive 12 goals in just 986 minutes across all competitions this season. The striker has a noticeable ‘shoot on sight’ mentality and it often turns out positively as he has scored outside-of-the-box crackers against Everton, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig so far this campaign.

Birmingham World understands Villa are unwilling to let Duran leave this winter and value their prized wonderkid at £100 million. Paris Saint-Germain have registered an interest but they too will see any offers rebuffed this month.

Jhon Duran’s character makes him a tempting sell

It wasn’t always that way, however, as Villa were tempted to let Duran go in the summer. The striker and manager Unai Emery didn’t see eye to eye in many aspects - and their characters still don’t align - but the issues have been brushed under the carpet.

Duran made it abundantly clear in the summer that he wanted to leave Villa to explore opportunities elsewhere, doing so in a rather unprofessional fashion. The Colombian, when first linked with West Ham, made an irons gesture with his fists during a social media live stream.

That act prompted internal action from Villa and Emery had to speak directly with the player in an effort to calm him down. Duran ended up staying at the club and his first half of the season has been excellent, but even then he’s shown signs of immaturity – notably kicking his seat after being substituted against Bologna in the Champions League.