Jhon Duran was the centre of a lot of speculation in the summer as an exit from Aston Villa looked likely, and AC Milan were among the teams who were keen.
Calciomercato.com report that the list of suitors for Duran became very long and there is no shortage of admirers in Italy either, because the Colombian was a name that Milan evaluated in their search for attacking reinforcements.
Indeed, Sky Italia stated that Duran was ‘a viable option’ for Milan as Alvaro Morata’s deputy and was on a list of names that also contains Borussia Dortmund’s Niclas Fullkrug and AS Roma’s Tammy Abraham. The latter, also formerly of Aston Villa, ended up arriving.
However, Villa did not want to listen to reason and – as reported by the Daily Mirror – in the summer they said no to at least 40 clubs in order to keep the young striker, who was frustrated however by the playing time he does not consider adequate.
Monchi, sporting director of the Premier League club, explained the situation: “The manager is very confident, he thinks he can make him one of the best centre-forwards in the world in the next 12 months, he is 100% convinced.
“So, what’s the problem? We also have Watkins and Duran wants to play because he thinks he is better than Ollie. It’s normal because every player believes he is better than his team-mates.
“Managing Watkins and Duran is not easy, but in the end it is the best thing for the team. If you have two great strikers it is better than just one.”
Damian Vidagany, who works alongside Monchi, added: “Duran wanted to leave the club? Yes. It is normal because he wants to play. There were no less than 40 clubs that wanted Duran, because everyone wanted him.”
