4 hours Ago By Fabrizio Romano
There are four days to go and then the January transfer window will be over. But there's still a long way to go for the strikers market for teams including Arsenal , Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The story that completely changed this window Jhon Duran's move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr from Aston Villa .
Yes, a big move and big surprise even for Aston Villa as they didn’t expect this kind of proposal to arrive with 56 hours left before the end of the Saudi market. Al-Nassr have been dreaming of Darwin Nunez for months and then almost got a deal done for Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface. However, they then decided to close the agreement for Jhon Duran once they understood that both club and player were open to making it happen despite a new contract being signed just a few months ago.
That package in excess of €85m add-ons included will impact many other deals. Firstly, Victor Boniface is not moving to the Saudi Pro League and so Bayer Leverkusen won’t sign Evan Ferguson, who was ready to move to Germany and work under Xabi Alonso. He’s now still an option for West Ham, who are looking for a striker after seeing bids rejected for Brian Brobbey and Ricardo Pepi.
Arsenal Need 'Crazy' Offer to Sign Ollie Watkins Duran’s move also impacts Ollie Watkins’ future; Arsenal opened talks with Aston Villa with a bid close to £60m including add-ons, but Villa decided to sell Jhon Duran and Unai Emery has told Villa board that he absolutely wants Watkins to stay at the club now. Sources close to the deal also guarantee that Villa were not happy at all with the leaks that emerged a few hours before the Champions League game against Celtic, a crucial and historical fixture. This also contributed to making the negotiation even more complicated.
It’s on Arsenal now, as only a crazy proposal can change this story with Watkins open to joining the Gunners but Villa insisting on a plan to keep Ollie. GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Ollie Watkins has scored 69 goals in 169 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa. But with Duran leaving, Villa are now on the market for new players; for sure a number nine but also a creative player has been requested by Unai Emery with both Joao Felix and Marco Asensio on the shortlist based on conditions of the deals and availability.
Tottenham, Arsenal and Man United all Battling for Mathys Tel In terms of strikers, there’s a crazy race ongoing for Mathys Tel, one of the most wanted strikers in Europe right now since he decided to leave Bayern. Aston Villa are prepared to spend big and buy Tel, Tottenham already agreed on €60m (£50m) package with Bayern but they’re waiting for the player to decide with Chelsea remaining in the mix, while Arsenal could be one to watch until the end. Manchester United? They’ve called for Tel, but are only open to a loan deal.
It's up to the French talent, who’s deciding with his agent and his family which project he prefers to pick. Spurs and Arsenal will add one more attacking player in the final days, while Chelsea are also assessing options and in active talks looking for opportunities. Man United’s moves depend on Marcus Rashford or, eventually, Alejandro Garnacho.
For Rashford, there is still no financial space at Barcelona; it’d be his dream move, Marcus wants Spain as his next step but Barça can only make it happen if Ansu Fati changes his mind and decides to leave in the final days of the window, which is considered an unlikely scenario internally. Turkish clubs keep calling on a daily basis for Rashford, but there’s no green light at this stage. No movements are expected at Paris Saint-Germain after they signed Kvaratskhelia.
Duran was on their list but he’s no longer available and also Victor Osimhen is not planning for a January exit despite Galatasaray closing in on an Alvaro Morata loan deal from AC Milan, with the Italian side planning to get Santiago Gimenez deal done with Feyenoord in the next 24 hours. The strikers' domino is absolutely on, with more than seven top clubs involved and big surprises to come. Sign up to The GIVEMESPORT Report to get exclusive daily updates from Fabrizio Romano, Ben Jacobs, Dean Jones and Tom Bogert sent straight to your inbox.
Arsenal may have to look elsewhere in their pursuit of a new striker. All statistics according to Transfermarkt - correct as of 31-01-25..
