Chelsea interest in £18m Aston Villa star ‘legitimate’ as report claims deal may rest on Middlesbrough transfer | OneFootball

Chelsea hold a 'legitimate interest' in Aston Villa star Jhon Duran.

Chelsea hold a ‘legitimate interest’ in Aston Villa star Jhon Duran according to a report which claims a ‘surprise bid’ for the striker rests on two further transfers.

Villa have already reportedly rejected a loan offer from West Ham for the Colombia international and the Telegraph have confirmed that reports of Chelsea interest in the 20-year-old that emerged earlier in the month are genuine.

It’s claimed ‘Duran is a name under careful consideration with a week remaining until the window shuts’.

Duran joined Villa from Chicago last January for £18m and he’s scored four goals in 35 appearances under Unai Emery, though he’s yet to start a Premier League game with Ollie Watkins firmly rooted ahead of him in the striker pecking order.

He’s thought to want more opportunities, but whether Chelsea would provide those chances doesn’t seem hugely likely given he would be cup tied for the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, and would by vying with Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson for a starting spot, before the likely arrival of a big-money striker signing in the summer.

Any move for Duran will likely rest on Villa’s chase of Middlesbrough striker Morgan Rogers, whom they’ve seen two bids rejected for already.

And ‘any firm Chelsea move uran may well rest on whether or not Armando Broja, who is thought to have interested Villa, leaves Stamford Bridge during the final week of the transfer window’, the report adds.

The Blues reportedly value the Albania international at over £50m, though that asking price could drop towards the end of the window, with West Ham, Fulham and Wolves all thought to be keen but ‘unable or unwilling to pay such a big fee’.

A ‘late flurry of transfer activity’ for Chelsea could be key to the purchase of Duran, with Conor Gallagher’s future still unclear and the Blues willing to allow Trevoh Chalobah to leave the club.

Chelsea host Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday night, when Duran will be expected to play some part in the tie.