Aston Villa signs highly-rated 19-year-old striker Jhon Duran from MLS side Chicago Fire

Aston Villa have signed highly-rated 19-year-old Colombia international Jhon Duran from Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire in a deal worth up to $22million.

A number of European sides - including Liverpool and Chelsea - had been linked with the striker, who scored eight goals in 27 games for the Fire last season.

He has already played three times for Colombia and now becomes the second Chicago Fire teenager to swap MLS for the English Premier League, following Gabriel Slonina, who joined Chelsea for $15m back in August.

ESPN report that the deal to take him to Birmingham, England, is worth a guaranteed $18m, with $4m there for performance-related add-ons.

Colombian side Envigado, where the teenager began his career, are also due a percentage of the transfer fee. 

In a statement confirming the move Aston Villa said, 'the deal is subject to the player passing a medical, agreeing personal terms and obtaining the necessary work visa.'

Should the deal be finalised without any problems it would make Duran's move one of the three biggest in MLS history.

His $22m switch would match the fee Bayern Munich paid Vancouver Whitecaps for full-back Alphonso Davies. 

But it would rank behind the $26m Newcastle United paid to sign Miguel Almiron from Atlanta United in 2019. 

Duran has been closely monitored by a host of English Premier League sides, including Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Liverpool previously sent the same scout to watch Duran that watched his compatriot Luis Diaz at Porto before he joined the Reds, according to reports out of Colombia. 

Portuguese team Benfica were also believed to be scouting him - and he appeared on the front page of Record, a newspaper in Portugal, back in December as interest ramped up. 

'He is a player that, once he gets it all together, he can be a really, really special player,' Fire coach Ezra Hendrickson once said of the striker. 'He has all the tools.' 

In January 2021, Fire sporting director Georg Heitz described Duran as 'really gifted'.

'He is not only physically interesting, especially if you consider his age, but also technically, he's really good in front of the goal, he's good in the box, he's smart, he's quick with his feet. A raw talent, but really gifted,' Heitz told the Athletic.

Duran is currently away with the Colombian national team as part of the 2023 South American Under-20 Championships.