Robin Olsen’s move to Malmo has been confirmed as the Aston Villa goalkeeper is set to depart this summer when his contract expires.
The 35-year-old initially arrived on loan from Roma in January 2022, with his switch becoming a permanent deal the following summer as he became an important depth option behind Emiliano Martinez.
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Olsen made 22 appearances for Villa, the last of which came off the bench in our defeat to Manchester United this past weekend, and while Villa had already confirmed that he would be leaving at the end of the season when his contract expires, his next move has also now been announced.
As per Malmo’s statement, Olsen has rejoined his former club, and he’ll be available to feature for them from July 8 after his current Villa deal runs down.
It’s a sensible move for all concerned as Villa will oversee a reshuffle in the goalkeeper department this summer and perhaps look to a younger, longer-term option and trim our wage bill in the process, while Olsen will get the opportunity to enjoy a more prominent role in the latter stages of his career.
Although he struggled to always entirely convince during his stint with us, he was consistently praised by Unai Emery and his teammates for being a great professional and an influential figure in the dressing room, and so his presence in the squad will likely be missed moving forward.
With question marks lingering over Martinez’s future too, there could be fundamental changes in that department in the coming weeks and months, but as things stand, Villa are most certainly in the market for a back-up goalkeeper to ensure we have enough depth and competition for places moving forward.
The likes of Joe Gauci and Oliwier Zych will likely be given a chance to stake their respective claims over pre-season having both now had loan moves to gain experience and develop, while also having plenty of time training alongside Martinez as part of the first-team set-up at Bodymoor Heath.
Villa are expected to be busy this summer, and sorting out our goalkeeping situation will be one of our priorities heading into the transfer market.
