Chelsea ‘contact’ ongoing for Aston Villa striker they love, with Barcelona taking backseat to Blues

Chelsea reportedly ‘still like’ Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran, and ‘contacts are ongoing’ for the transfer, while the Blues are ahead of Barcelona, simply as the Spanish side are not ‘active’ in any negotiations.

Duran agitated for a move away from Villa Park in the summer. He was on the radar of West Ham, and showed his desire to move there by making the Hammers logo on a social media video.

Their interest came after Chelsea’s, who were given permission to speak to the striker by Villa, though the transfer never went through.

It seems that the Blues remain in the mix, following their summer interest, as they are still in contact over the transfer.

“There are now rumours that several clubs are interested in Jhon Duran and I can confirm that Chelsea really tried to sign him too. Chelsea rate the player and still like the player at this moment,” Romano told the Daily Briefing.

“Contacts are ongoing, but it’s not something that we can definitely update now.”

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Barcelona not in the mix

Recent reports stated that Barcelona director Deco had made a call to discuss a transfer for Duran in the summer.

But they have taken a backseat to Chelsea, owing to the fact that, if they are interested, they are not actually in contact, as per Romano.

“There have been some rumours of Barcelona chasing Jhon Duran in the last 24 hours but let me say that Barca, at this moment, have not been active in negotiations for any striker,” he said.

“Obviously, they are keeping a close eye on the strikers market, but it’s not something really concrete because Hansi Flick is very happy with what Robert Lewandowski is doing.”

More moves planned by Chelsea

Attacking moves remain firmly in the thoughts of Chelsea, with Victor Osimhen reportedly still the main option, and Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Boniface also on the radar, as well as a man not called Victor at all, Ollie Watkins.

Young attacking-midfielder Francis Onyeka is also being courted, by both Chelsea and Tottenham.

Mykhaylo Mudryk’s exit could be on the way, though, with multiple reports following a TEAMtalk exclusive stating both he and the club were of the opinion it may be best for him to move on.

At the back, Castello Lukaba remains on the Blues’ radar. But he is on the radar of some other big clubs, and RB Leipzig will seemingly be oppositional to his exit.

Duran’s remarkable scoring record

Duran currently has two records which are very impressive. He has largely been used as a substitute by Aston Villa, and eight of his nine Premier League goals for the Midlanders have been from the bench.

This season, every one of his four league goals have come as a substitute, and he has played just 131 minutes to achieve those goals, meaning he is scoring a goal every 33 minutes in the league.

Best minutes-per-goal ratio of players with three Premier League goals this season

That is the best ratio of any Premier League player who has scored at least three goals this term, better than Erling Haaland, who has 10 goals in the league so far.