Director at Champions League club confirms £40m striker wanted to leave amid reported Chelsea interest

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Chelsea missed out on several strikers during the summer transfer window, with their failed pursuit of Victor Osimhen well publicised.

As well as the 25-year-old, who ended up joining Galatasaray from Napoli instead, Chelsea also failed to sign Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran and Porto’s Samu Omorodion.

They saw Duran remain at Villa and a deal for Omorodion collapse at the very last moment before his move to Portugal.

However, while Duran stayed at Villa Park, it looks like he actually wanted to leave as Chelsea and others circled.

• READ MORE: ‘Insane’… Chelsea fans are all saying the same thing about Jhon Duran after his performance vs Leicester

Monchi on Jhon Duran

Chelsea considered signing Duran on deadline day as they struggled to get a deal for Osimhen over the line.

The centre-forward remained at Villa in the end, but the club’s president of football operations Monchi has confirmed that he wanted to leave Unai Emery’s side.

On Duran, Monchi said: “To manage [Ollie] Watkins and Duran is not easy but it is the best for the team. If you have two big strikers it is better than only one.

“Did Duran want to leave the club? Yes. That is normal because he wants to play. But now we spoke with him yesterday and he is happy.”

According to GiveMeSport, Villa valued Duran at £40m, but it does not look like anyone went to the table with that sum of money.

Jhon Duran happy at Aston Villa

For now, Duran does appear to be happy at Villa. He is coming off the bench and scoring goals for the Villans, netting twice in the Premier League already.

This season, he will also get to play in the Champions League, which would not have been the case if he joined Chelsea. It remains to be seen, though, how long Emery can keep him content.

Already having Watkins, Duran is not going to be an automatic starter under the Spaniard. All he can do is continue scoring and try to convince Emery of his quality.

As for Enzo Maresca, he will be relying on Nicolas Jackson, who also has two goals in the English top flight this term.

Ben Foster has his doubts about Jackson, but the Senegal international scored 14 times in the Premier League last season and has not made the worst start to this campaign.