Al-Nassr Overspent on Aston Villa’s €77M-Rated Star Wanted by PSG and West Ham in January

Paris Saint-Germain were reportedly interested in signing Aston Villa forward Jhon Durán as they aimed to add a promising young talent to their attack. However, the Colombian striker ultimately chose to join Al-Nassr and continue his career in Saudi Arabia.

Journalist Ben Jacobs recently highlighted PSG’s interest but pointed out a major hurdle—Aston Villa’s £80 million asking price. That valuation didn’t pose a problem for Al-Nassr.

Before Durán’s move to Saudi Arabia, Jacobs reported that Aston Villa turned down a £57 million bid from West Ham—their second offer of the window—as they held out for a fee closer to £85 million (€100 million).

Last week, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed that Aston Villa will receive a €77 million fixed fee, along with add-ons, for Durán.

Robin Bairner comments on PSG missing out on Jhon Durán

Now that the winter transfer window has come and gone, Football Transfer’s Robin Bairner commented on whether PSG was in the right not to overpay for Durán despite needing a No. 9 to help Gonçalo Ramos carry that responsibility.

“I’m not convinced he was a €70 or €80 million player—the type of money that Al-Nassr have spent for him,” Bairner said on the latest PSG Talking podcast. “If you watch Aston Villa, he was often a substitute, and he benefited immensely from the work rate of Ollie Watkins, who would play the first 60 or 70 minutes, batter defenders, tire them out, and Durán came on as a finisher, I suppose.

“PSG don’t really have that center-forward who’s going to physically destroy defenders like Ollie Watkins would. I think Durán was perhaps made to look a little bit better than he maybe is at the moment by Watkins. We may not ever know that now because he’s obviously gone to Saudi, which isn’t quite the same standard as the Premier League, to say the least.

“But it’s going to be interesting to see what his career trajectory is and if he can fulfill the potential that it looked like he would have because he was coming on and looking like such a thrilling player.It would have been interesting to see how he might have done at PSG, but I think Al-Nassr have overpaid for him.”

According to a report from TNT Sports, the striker is set to earn an annual salary of £16.7 million ($21 million) at Al-Nassr. That breaks down to about £46,000 a day, £1,900 an hour, and £31 per minute—an extraordinary increase from his previous £75,000-a-week deal at Villa Park.