Aston Villa are pursuing Borussia Dortmund attacker Donyell Malen and wants to acquire the Dutch international in the January transfer window. The Premier League club is in the market for a right-sided winger and have set their sights on Donyell Malen. The Villans have even made an opening bid for him but have seen that rebuffed by the German club.
The Dutch international who has scored nine goals in 41 caps for his country, could be switching clubs in the winter transfer window. He is highly rated by Villa who would just like Dortmund, be able to offer him Champions League football, as they look to lure him to Villa Park.
According to a report by David Ornstein in The Athletic, Villa appear very keen on the Dutchman and has seen an initial of €18 million knocked back. Dortmund are holding out for an initial €20 million plus bonuses for their enigmatic right-winger but negotiations have continued between the two clubs.
The Appeal of a Transfer to Malen
Donyell Malen may be tempted to leave the German giants in search of regular game time having started only six league matches out of the 15th in the Bundesliga so far. The winger has netted five goals in twenty appearances in all competitions scoring three in the Bundesliga and two in the Champions League.
He joined Borussia Dortmund from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2021, and since then, he has played 139 times and has scored 39 times for them. He has helped them reach a Champions League final in the process.
Why Dortmund May Not Be So Averse to Letting Malen Go
Malen is an extremely pacy winger and versatile forward. However, Dortmund do not seem to mind letting him go if their price is met; this is probably due to his lack of consistency in a BVB shirt. He has shone in spurts and can be devastating when in full flow, but injuries and lack of form have stopped him from regularly putting in his best displays in front of the Yellow Wall.
Not His First Rodeo in England
Aston Villa want a right-sided winger and appear to rate Malen very highly. If they manage to bring him to Villa Park though, it wouldn’t be his first taste of English football as Malen had come played for Arsenal in his youth career.
He was with the Gunners between 2015-2017 before joining PSV in the latter year. He proceeded to have a very successful spell there netting 55 times in 116 appearances. If they succeed in bringing him, Aston Villa’s coach, Unai Emery would likely hope to coax such levels of productivity from the Dutch international.