West Ham United’s search for a new striker has now taken them at the door of a club who are set to play Champions League football this season.
Julen Lopetegui‘s arrival at the London Stadium has seen the Hammers get up and running in the summer transfer window with two early additions.
The West Ham attack has already been bolstered by the addition of Brazilian forward Luis Guilherme this summer.
However, the Irons still find themselves looking for their new striker with Lopetegui looking to make real improvements to the side he inherited from David Moyes.
That improvement up top has now been identified as a potential Premier League striker whose club may well be willing to cash in on him this summer.
Julen Lopetegui identifies striker from Champions League club
The Hammers have already been linked with a number of names this summer including the Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson.
It was even claimed West Ham had made contact with Newcastle over the potential signing of Wilson.
But now the PSR deadline has passed and no deal was agreed between the two clubs, Newcastle do not have such a pressing need to sell.
However, West Ham may have now moved on to a more ambitious summer target on the back of their struggles to seal Wilson’s signature.
According to TalkSPORT, West Ham are keen to bring in Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran this summer.
It is a move which could potentially be struck between the two clubs with Unai Emery‘s side to be willing to listen to offers for the Colombian.
The Hammers are not the only club to have shown an interest in the 20-year-old with Chelsea believed to have been keen earlier in the window.
Duran is not expected to be part of Emery’s major plans for the upcoming campaign as Villa look for around £40m for his services.
What Unai Emery has previously said about Jhon Duran
Although Emery is now said to be open to selling the striker this summer, the Villa boss has recently had some positive things to say about his young forward.
“Jhon Duran is a special player,” Emery told Sky Sports earlier this year.
“We have to try and help him. He is a good guy and he needs a team behind him. He is getting our demands better. He was very clinical and today was important for him.”
However, given Villa are now set to play Champions League football this season, they may well feel they need a more proven option to provide back-up for Ollie Watkins.
In just 462 minutes of Premier League football last season, Duran was able to return five goals for Villa but this does show he would still be purchased on the back of his potential.
He has shown promising signs, but he would not arrive at West Ham with a huge sample size for the fans to invest much confidence in.