Jhon Duran stayed at Aston Villa during the January transfer window, but his future at Villa Park remains uncertain. Early in the window, it emerged that both Milan clubs were in talks over signing Duran on loan until the end of the season amid Unai Emery’s concerns over his attitude on the training ground.
Then, as we crept closer to the deadline, it was revealed that Chelsea had held discussions over a move for the Colombian, aware that Emery isn’t the “biggest fan” of the 2023 signing.
Elsewhere, Villa are set to part with Nicolo Zaniolo at the end of the season despite agreeing to a conditional obligation to buy when they signed him on loan from Galatasaray last summer. The club have been disappointed with his performances, and the Italian is preparing to leave this summer.
Like Duran, Zaniolo has appeared as a centre-forward this season, while also featuring as a second striker, and the exit of one or both players could force Villa into the market for a replacement to provide cover and competition for Ollie Watkins.
According to Football Transfers, Aston Villa are one of the Premier League clubs to have made contact with Lille to register their interest in Jonathan David, alongside Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle. Brentford manager Thomas Frank is described as a big admirer too.
Lille are demanding €50m (around £43m) for David, who’s “desperate” to play in the Premier League. It’s worth noting that his contract is due to expire in 18 months’ time, which could put the Ligue 1 club under pressue to sell him this summer.
Having joined Lille from Gent in 2020, David has gone on to either score or assist 86 goals in 166 appearances for the club, including 68 in 133 in the league. In the club’s entire history, only Andre Strappe (82) has scored more than David’s 71, and he was playing in the mid-20th century. No wonder, then, that European football writer Antonio Mango has called his output “absolutely insane”.
The 2022/23 season was David’s best to date as he struck 26 times in 40 games, including 24 in Ligue 1. As you can see in the table below, only Kylian Mbappe and Alexandre Lacazette scored more in the French top-flight, and only five players across the big five leagues posted a higher tally.
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