Aston Villa offering striker ‘lower salary’ than competition – Liverpool ‘now out of the game’

Aston Villa are ‘offering a lower salary’ to striker Jhon Duran than Benfica, with Liverpool now out of the picture.

That’s according to journalist Raffaele Amato, who says the Villans may need to up their bid if they are to win the race for the 19-year-old.

Aston Villa were brought into the mix for Duran on Boxing Day, with a report naming them among three Premier League clubs interested in the Chicago Fire striker.

Liverpool were then brought into the mix a couple of days later when it was explained that they are making ‘concrete moves’ for the player before it was explained that Aston Villa were seen as the ‘biggest danger’ in the race.

It now seem there have been further developments, with Amato reporting that Villa are currently offering a lower salary than their main competitors Benfica.

He has Unai Emery’s side offering a salary of £800,000 while Benfica are at £1.1m. We’ll assume that is per year rather than anything ludicrous.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are ‘now out of the game’ but a new competitor, RB Salzburg, have now joined the battle for the striker’s signature.

Why that is the case isn’t mentioned but it seems it’s now Aston Villa who are representing the Premier League, although they might need to open the chequebook slightly wider if they are to beat the competition from Portugal.

#Duran update: Aston Villa are offering a lower salary: 800k pounds. Benfica: 1100. Liverpool now out of the game, Salzburg has entered. @calciomercatoit

— Raffaele Amato (@RaffaeleAmato14) January 5, 2023