Fabrizio Romano: Negotiations underway between Chelsea and Premier League club for South American striker

Chelsea are looking to sign South American striker Jhon Duran

As reported by Fabrizio Romano on X, Chelsea are currently negotiating with Premier League side, Aston Villa over the transfer of Jhon Duran.

The 20-year-old South American striker has shown promising signs early in his career, although his output leaves much to be desired. Duran possesses solid fundamentals and has the potential to develop into a quality forward, which is what Chelsea is banking on as they aim to bring him to Stamford Bridge this summer.

During his tenure with Villa, Duran has made 49 appearances and recorded eight goals. His performance has suffered due to a lack of minutes under Unai Emery. The 20-year-old rarely starts games and is often brought on well into the second half, making it challenging for him to adapt to the match’s pace.

At Chelsea, things could change significantly for the 20-year-old striker. The team is unlikely to rely on him as their primary goal scorer, but he could easily become an important backup option. If that doesn’t pan out, Chelsea can always consider sending Duran out on loan.

The bottom line is that Duran needs a change of environment to strive for regular minutes and continue his development. If he remains in his current situation, his progress might stall. Chelsea has a big opportunity to add much-needed depth to their attacking line. It will be interesting to see whether they can finalize a deal for Duran or not.

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Duran is clearly a diamond in the rough. While his potential is not in doubt, the ability to perform at the highest level is suspect, at least as far as consistency is concerned. Whether a move to Stamford Bridge can reignite that fire remains to be seen. After all, as we saw against Liverpool last season, the youngster is certainly a handful on his day.