Aston Villa are reportedly in talks with Borussia Dortmund over the potential signing of Donyell Malen.
The 25-year-old joined the Bundesliga giants in 2021, and he has gone on to score 39 goals and provide 20 assists in 131 appearances.
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Prior to that, he had a successful stint with PSV Eindhoven, during which he bagged 55 goals and 24 assists in 116 outings. That club form has resulted in him earning 41 caps for the Netherlands to date, with Malen scoring nine goals for his country.
Despite a more limited role at Dortmund this season, he has attracted the attention of Villa and Unai Emery it seems, as The Athletic report that Villa are in talks to sign the Dutch international, with an initial offer worth €18m plus add-ons being submitted, but further negotiations are expected as that offer is said to fall below their valuation.
It’s added that other options are being considered too, and so it remains to be seen if Villa are able to get a deal done for Malen, or if they look elsewhere to bolster our attacking options this month.
The Telegraph also report that Villa have held talks with Dortmund but will keep their options open for the time being, and so it will be fascinating to see who arrives as it’s clearly an area in which Emery feels we can, and must, improve as we head into the second half of the campaign.
The Villa boss does have a number of top options in that area of his squad already, with Morgan Rogers, Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey, Jaden Philogene, John McGinn and Emiliano Buendia all capable of playing behind our frontman either through the middle or out wide, but as per the report above, Philogene may well move out on loan again in this transfer window to make space for a new arrival.
If that is indeed the case, an upgrade would certainly be welcomed to give us a fresh dynamic in attack, and given the impact of players signed by Monchi and Emery thus far, they evidently believe that Malen would be a good fit for us in terms of style and structure, and if he is indeed our priority target for that kind of money, hopefully an agreement will be reached.
