Aston Villa forward Jhon Durán is not set to join Espanyol this summer and is a part of Unai Emery’s plans for the season.
That’s according to journalist Guillermo Arango, who insists the player being spotted in Barcelona is not what it seems.
Durán joined Aston Villa in the January transfer window this year in a €16.64m deal from Chicago Fire in MLS but only managed 12 appearances and 124 minutes of action before the end of the season.
He very much played a bit part role under Emery and, with Aston Villa spending big money improving their forward line this summer, there have been suggestions he is not a part of their plans for next season.
Talk of exit was fuelled by him being spotted in Barcelona, something that appeared to be more than a coincidence as he had been linked with Espanyol in the British press.
Arango pours cold water all over that rumour, though, by insisting it is not true that Durán is set to join the Spanish side. In fact, he is simply in Barcelona on his holidays and nothing more.
Rather than leaving Aston Villa he is set to join up with their squad when they return from a tour in the USA and, furthermore, Emery ‘wants to have him’ for next season.
Any talk of a transfer away, then, is wide of the mark for now, and Durán remains very much in Villa’s plans for the new campaign.
❌ NO es cierto que 𝐉𝐡𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐚́𝐧 (19) vaya a firmar con el #Espanyol #ESP, el jugador se encuentra en Barcelona de vacaciones.
🔙 Se unirá al plantel del #AstonVilla cuando regresen de la gira por #USA
Unai Emery quiere contar con él para esta temporada. pic.twitter.com/FtiMyMsprh— Guillermo Arango (@guilloarango) July 19, 2023
