Jhon Duran had a great debut season in the MLS with Chicago Fire (Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISI Photos/Getty Images).

Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of Jhon Duran, a striker who was attracting interest from the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Duran was linked to several of Europe’s top sides, including the aforementioned Premier League clubs, as recently as December.

The 19-year-old is viewed as a highly-rated young talent having enjoyed a great debut season in the MLS with Chicago Fire, scoring eight and making six assists in 28 games in 2022.

But rather than move to one of the continent’s elite clubs, Duran will instead be heading to Villa Park, with the Villans announcing on Monday that they had won the race for the Colombia international.

‘Aston Villa can confirm that an agreement has been reached with Chicago Fire for the permanent transfer of 19-year-old striker, Jhon Duran,’ a statement on their website read.

‘The deal is subject to the player passing a medical, agreeing personal terms and obtaining the necessary work visa.’

It is said that Villa pay around £14million for Duran.

Unai Emery has had a great start to life at Aston Villa (Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)

Villa’s owners have big ambitions for the club, and after the appointment of top manager Unai Emery in October, this latest transfer is another big statement for the team as they attempt to mount an unlikely charge for Europe.

While they started the season very poorly under Steven Gerrard, Emery’s arrival has turned their form around and they now 11th in the table, but just five points shy of Brighton in seventh.

It is not known how serious Chelsea, Liverpool and United’s interest in Duran really was though the chance to sign a highly-rated youngster is not to be passed up.

Chelsea and United especially were in the market for new forwards though the recent acquisitions of Mykhailo Mudryk and Wout Weghorst respectively had eased that need somewhat.

As for Villa, they travel to bottom of the table Southampton on Saturday.

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