Aston Villa rebuff West Ham bid to take Jhon Duran on loan with option to buy

West Ham have been rebuffed in an approach to take Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran on loan with an option to buy.

Duran, 20, joined Villa from Chicago Fire in a £17.75million deal in 2023.

But he has struggled for game time under Unai Emery.

The striker has scored four goals in 23 appearances this season, but he has only started seven games and none in the Premier League.

Villa remain in negotiations for Morgan Rogers at Middlesbrough and would not allow Duran to leave without having another forward signed.

Villa, meanwhile, have made an approach for Iceland goalkeeper Hákon Valdimarsson from Swedish side Elfsborg

Villa must let players leave in this transfer window before signing others with out-of-favour duo Bertrand Traore and Calum Chambers told they can depart.

Emery has not ruled out strengthening his squad this winter but accepts Villa must sell first and that they also have an eye on Financial Fair Play regulations.

'Chambers and Traore can go and if that happens, we can think about adding one or two players to the squad – but we are not focused on a particular player,' said Emery earlier this month.

'I want to increase the level of the players who are here between now and the end of the season. In our situation is not easy to get something in this transfer window.

'We have to accept the rules of FFP and we know where we are. Every meeting we have with our owners is about how we will get better and how we will improve the squad. We are second in the league and we are still in the Europa Conference League and the FA Cup.'