Chelsea’s interest in Aston Villa Jhon Duran got really hot earlier this summer and then died away pretty quickly. Having established the terms it would take to sign him, the Blues seemed to move on to other targets and to a focus on selling players first.
Now in quote picked up by CaughtOffside, Ben Jacobs is reporting that the Colombian is increasingly unhappy at the “pathway” offered at Villa, where he’s the clear number two backing up Ollie Watkins.
“Villa have been very firm on their asking price, and that might be because they wanted to invest some of the Duran money into a player in a different position – for example, Amadou Onana,” Jacobs is quoted as saying.
“But one thing is clear that as much as Villa thinking Duran is a top footballer, they are prepared to let him go, because they don’t necessarily think that he is on the same page as Unai Emery with his pathway at the football club.
“He’s looking for more imminent and instant game time, and Unai Emery wants a slightly slower pathway progression, so the player is keen on going elsewhere.”
Pressure ramps up on both sides
More than anything, this sounds like a big of confected dispute because Duran wants to leave. He’s seen Chelsea come sniffing around and get pretty far in talks with his club, before the Blues backed off.
He’s now panicking that his chance is slipping away, and without actively going on strike or burning his bridges in some other way at Villa, he’s amping up the pressure to try and see if he can make the switch happen this summer.
His club have all the power however, and as it stands it doesn’t seem that Chelsea even have an offer on the table. He’s likely going to have to be patient and wait until a lot later in this window – and maybe even put up with another year at Villa.
I believe that the Blues backed out because he is too much of a head case. Mr. Chaos on and off the field. Duran is certainly a hand full for defenders to deal with, but he’s not going to muscle Emery off the ball. I do like him and wish him luck at his future club. UTV