Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins (Credit: Imago)
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins (Credit: Imago)

Ollie Watkins or Jhon Duran could quit Aston Villa after multi-million news

Bryan King

Senior Scouting Consultant AUTHORITY Former Senior Scout for Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, and Aston Villa; Scandinavian and European talent specialist who discovered Erling Haaland. FOCUS Global recruitment networks, player market valuation, and continental talent acquisition. THE AUDIT Bryan utilises Statscore’s Advanced Scouting Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Market Value Volatility, Continental Transition Adaptability, and Under-the-Radar Tactical Efficiency. He provides elite-level player profiling to reveal the technical reality behind recruitment that mainstream data ignores.

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Bryan King has suggested that one of Ollie Watkins or Jhon Duran could be sold by Aston Villa in January after recent transfer speculation.

The ex-Villa scout doesn't understand why Unai Emery's side would consider signing a striker at this moment in time.

It comes after CaughtOffside reported (22 September) that Villa are interested in Beşiktaş striker Semih Kılıçsoy, who is valued at £21million.

And King - speaking exclusively to Villa News - has speculated what this might mean for the future of either Watkins or Duran.

"These two lads are building confidence," King said.

"Therefore, I can't see why you would want to bring in a brand-new centre-forward at this stage. However, does that point to the fact that maybe one of Watkins or Duran are moving on in January?

"It does certainly raise that question. However, I would definitely want to keep hold of both of them at the moment, they are scoring goals."

Aston Villa to sign Semih Kılıçsoy as a replacement for Ollie Watkins or Jhon Duran?

Villa have the perfect strike duo at the moment. After just seven matches, in which he has started just once, Duran has found the back of the net five times this season.

Meanwhile, Watkins remains Emery's first-choice striker and has scored three goals and provided two assists this season. As a result, it seems as if the striker situation is more than covered, with King speculating that Villa would perhaps be keen to extend Duran's contract.

However, with two top players competing for one spot, that could lead to one of them becoming unhappy and forcing a move away from the club in search of first-team football. That player would most likely be Duran, who seems to be playing second fiddle to Watkins despite his immense form.

Jhon Duran
Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran (credit: Imago)

While it is of course all speculation at this stage, it seems strange that Villa would be looking at a striker when they're already struggling to accommodate two top players in that position.

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