Former Gunner Donyell Malen is already drawing transfer speculation less than a year after signing for Aston Villa, but the most recent reports suggest he’ll stay with the club this month.
Former Arsenal youngster Donyell Malen currently plays for Aston Villa, having signed for the club on January 14th of last year. Yet there are already reports that he might leave, with AS Roma interested in signing him.
Jacob Tanswell reports for The Athletic that Malen’s future will depend on the offers Villa receive, as well as what Unai Emery thinks about letting him go.
Malen is aware of the interest, and he hasn’t yet decided whether to stay at Villa or pursue alternative options.
David Ornstein adds for the same outlet that Villa are happy with Malen, and as things stand, he’ll stay at the Premier League club. But Tammy Abraham is an option for Villa if Malen does want to leave.
Malen has been consistently involved in Villa’s fixtures this season, appearing in all 29 of their games. But that’s a somewhat misleading statistic, as the forward has only started five Premier League matches, coming off the bench in the other 16.
Considering Malen’s limited minutes of just 1,106 in all competitions, his tally of seven goals and two assists is pretty good. Just this weekend he set up a goal to help knock Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup.
But it would be understandable if the 26-year-old feels some frustration at the fact he’s only starting one Premier League game a month at the moment.
Malen spent two years in the Arsenal academy before joining PSV in 2017. He’s since made transfers to Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2021 and Aston Villa in January 2025.
The Dutch international may have a particular focus on his minutes for the second half of the season, with the World Cup coming up this summer.