Donyell Malen transfer news: What can he bring to Premier League? Aston Villa signing has been hot & cold for Dortmund

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Over the last 13 months, there have been rumors that Donyell Malen could leave Borussia Dortmund. Now it is finally official. On Tuesday, Premier League club Aston Villa have reached an agreement with Dortmund to sign the 25-year-old forward. Dortmund will receive €25m plus €5m in bonuses for the Dutch forward. The deal allows Dortmund, who signed Malen for €30m from PSV Eindhoven in 2021, to recuperate a big portion of the transfer fee initially and in an ideal world all of it.

Why were Dortmund eager to move on from Malen? A streaky forward, Malen has lost his place in the starting XI under head coach Nuri Sahin and has featured in just 945 minutes across 20 games in which he scored five goals and one assist. That’s only half the available minutes—too little for Malen, who aspires to become a regular starter for the Dutch national team. 

While Dortmund are desperate to offload the forward to create space for new additions, Aston Villa are anxious to strengthen the attack. The Birmingham club had a strong start to the season with great results in the Champions League, where they, among other things, beat Bayern Munich (1-0). But in the Premier League, the club is currently four points out of a tightly contested Champions League spot. Although listed as a right-winger on Transfermarkt, Malen can play several positions up front. Indeed, one of his biggest issues at Dortmund has been the fact that he never managed to nail down his best position.

What can Malen add to Aston Villa? Unai Emery will be looking for goals. But is the Dutch forward the player to provide them? The short answer is that Malen certainly has a history of providing goals. While he has only scored five goals and one assist in 20 games this season, Malen managed 13 goals and three assists in 27 Bundesliga games last season, which was his most productive season in Germany to date. As mentioned above, tactically, Malen will give Emery some flexibility. Malen can slot in on either wing or even play as a no.9. That sort of depth will make him a valuable asset for the English club.

However, even in his most productive campaign, inconsistency was the name of the game. A glimpse in the Transfermarkt database highlights this. Malen started last year off with three goals in four games but then didn’t score in seven Bundesliga games and then scored six goals in his next nine Bundesliga starts before injuries derailed the rest of his campaign. The same can be said about the 2022/23 season when he scored nine goals and seven assists in 26 Bundesliga games but didn’t score his first goal until matchday 21. 

Short hot periods and long stretches without goals have very much defined Malen’s Dortmund career to this point. The streakiness is one of the main reasons why Dortmund are looking to move on from the forward, trying to cash in to find a more consistent forward. Malen’s inconsistencies are also reflected in his market value. On Dortmund’s path to the Champions League final, Malen’s market value shot up to €40m but dropped by €12m to €28m as part of the latest Bundesliga market value update. With that in mind, signing Malen is a gamble for Aston Villa, while Dortmund have done well to sell the forward in a package deal that could recuperate their initial transfer fee.