Donyell Malen to Aston Villa latest: transfer 'talks', 'favourite club' comment, Arsenal and Liverpool links

Aston Villa are ‘exploring’ a deal for Borussia Dortmund attacker Donyell Malen this winter and have held ‘talks’ over a potential move, according to a report by The Telegraph. The Bundesliga ace has been identified as a top target this month by Unai Emery as he looks to add more firepower to his ranks.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has backed up the reports by suggesting on his X account that ‘negotiations’ are continuing over the possible deal. He adds that the player is ‘keen’ on moving to England.

Arsenal and Liverpool links to Aston Villa target Malen

Malen, who is 25-years-old, was linked with Arsenal and Liverpool late last year, as reported by 90min. He is still under contract with his current club for another two years meaning that they are under no pressure to cash in on him in this transfer window and can wait for the right offer to come in for his signature.

Aston Villa could see the Holland international as someone to bolster their attacking ranks ahead of the second-half of the season. He has been on the books at Borussia Dortmund since joining them back in 2021 and has been a regular for the German giants.

Malen has scored 39 goals in 131 games in all competitions, three of which have come in this campaign. He helped Dortmund reach the Champions League final last year but they were beaten in the final by Real Madrid at Wembley.

Aston Villa target Malen open to England return

He said last term, as per Goal: "I think, because I played in England as a youth, it is a dream to play in the Premier League. I think that is a beautiful dream."

Asked specifically about a return to Arsenal, Malen added: "Yes I would [return]. I wanted Arsenal [as a teenager], my favourite club. I played there in my youth, I really wanted to break through there. Every now and then in a football career there are points at which you just have to make a decision.

"Yes, I was training with the first team, and I was 17, 18 at the time and I did make steps in the right direction, but I thought I had to just play professional football. I also saw my teammates playing professional football while I was still playing youth football and I knew [leaving] was the right thing to do."

Malen played for Arsenal from 2015 to 2017 as a youngster but didn’t break into their first-team. He left for PSV to learn his trade before Dortmund came calling and he hasn’t looked back since.

Unai Emery comments on Aston Villa amid Malen links

Aston Villa boss Emery has been satisfied overall by their recent showings and is happy with where they are right now. He has said: “Our overall thinking how we are finishing the year, of course we have to be proud of everything we did. Now we have 29 points, with 31 we were closer to be in the European positions.

“We have to accept it and try to start again improving things. We finish the first part of the season with 29 points, it’s not the best but not the worst. This league is very tight and we have to try to improve and correct why we are conceding a lot of goals.”