£40m Aston Villa star wants West Ham transfer - Chelsea and Newcastle United interested

Jhon Duran will reportedly tell Aston Villa that he wants to leave for a Premier League rival this week.

According to James Nurse, a journalist for the Daily Mirror, Duran will this week tell the club he wants to leave for West Ham. He says that the Villains want £40m, and that the Hammers are getting 'close' after making three bids for the forward. Chelsea and Newcastle United are also interested, but the player's desire is to play under Julen Lopetegui who can offer him first team football at the London Stadium.

The 20-year-old has only been a player at Villa Park for just under 18 months, but he was strongly linked with a move away from the club in the January transfer window. Chelsea were sniffing around but an injury just before the window shut scuppered that, however the Blues maintained their interest, but were unwilling to meet Villa's asking price.

Duran is being allowed some down time after his involvement with Colombia at the Copa America. His country reached the final, losing to Emi Martinez' Argentina, but Duran himself did not play. The young forward made a 13-minute appearance off of the bench in the 3-0 win against Costa Rica in the group stage but for the other five matches, he was an unused substitute.

Aston Villa signed the former Chicago Fire striker in £18m deal just under a year-and-a-half ago, and if they can get £40m then that would represent a £22m profit on a player that hasn’t been a first team regular. To date, he has played in 49 games for the Villa and scored eight goals. The form of Ollie Watkins though has meant that he's had to settle for a place off the bench, and last season he started just three games in the Premier League.