Tony Cottee left West Ham in 1988 for a record £2.2 million to join Everton and knows about clubs spending big.

Former West Ham striker Tony Cottee has urged the club to break the bank and sign Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran this month in a transfer swoop that could help propel the London outfit back into European football.

Graham Potter is known to be a big fan of the 21-year-old, who has turned heads at Aston Villa this season. West Ham almost signed the player last summer, with the forward even appearing to make the Hammers sign on social media, but that move fell through.

Duran is competing for a starting berth with Ollie Watkins at Villa Park but has plundered 12 goals in all competitions. The bagsman penned a new contract with the club in October last year to keep him in the Midlands until 2030, but that has not deterred West Ham interest.

West Ham in pursuit of Aston Villa striker

The Hammers have seen two bids rejected by Aston Villa this month with The Guardian reporting that Unai Emery's side are 'livid' with the persistent bids. Villa are said to value Duran upwards of £70 million and Cottee has urged his former club to persist with the transfer.

Speaking exclusively to LondonWorld via BetSelect, the 59-year-old was asked if Duran was the one that got away last summer. He said: "I think all the West Ham fans are feeling that. I think when you read the clubs trying to sign a 21-year-old, you get excited. I hadn't seen lots of him, but if you've got a scouting system, which West Ham has, you would have sent the scouts to watch the player and they'd report me back, and they would have said, look, this guy's a real talent. He’s definitely the one that got away last year.

"What he's done, and he deserves great credit for it, he's gone back to Villa, he's got his head down. I know he hasn't played regularly every week, but that's because they've got an England international game in front of him. But when he's played, there was one sensational goal he got from outside the box. It was a fantastic goal. He seems to get all sorts of goals.

"I like his movement. He's not an old-fashioned, stay-down-the-middle type of player. He brings a lot to the game. It can only get better. When you're that young, 21, 22, coming up, you can only improve. That's why it doesn't make sense, because for that, as I've already said, they wasted money, in my opinion, on a couple of players."

Cottee puts £60m valuation on Jhon Duran

Cottee knows all about big money transfers. Having broken through at West Ham, the striker was signed by Everton in 1988 for £2.2 million. At the time, that was a British club record fee.

With Duran's price tag more than doubling since last summer, Cottee implored West Ham to spend the money now with the rising star set to just increase in value. He said: "Yeah, you've got to do it. I know it's crazy money and you think I was a record signing, I was two million, but it was nearly 40 years ago.

"If you can sign a player that's going to give you a much better chance of scoring goals, it's got to be worth it. For a club like West Ham, it almost guarantees you stay in the Premier League and it gives you a chance to get back into Europe. So whatever you got to pay.

"Just pay it get on with it and put your hands up. You made a mistake, you should have signed him, didn't. But now we got him. I would say £60 million is the maximum."