Donyell Malen joined Aston Villa in January 2025 for £19 million plus add-ons from Borussia Dortmund. It's been a tough start to his Villa career with a lack of game time and being left out of Villa's Champions League squad due to the loan signings of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio.
Malen started just 2 out of the 14 appearances he made in the Premier League last season, scoring 3 goals including a match-winner against Nottingham Forest in April. Although only a small sample size, Villa supporters have certainly enjoyed some of his performances. His speed and directness towards goal stood out, offering something different compared to current and previous wingers at Villa.
With 3 assists in 2 games so far in pre-season and Leon Bailey "up for sale", this upcoming season could be Malen's chance to make the right-winger position his own.
The Role of the Right-Winger in Emery's System
In Unai Emery's system, work rate is a key trait for his players. The right-winger must be high and wide when in possession, but when Villa are defending they must track back and support Matty Cash at right-back. There is no doubt that Emery would be drilling this into Malen to ensure he can trust him.
Malen's directness towards goal enables Villa the possibility to play slightly differently. His natural positioning becomes more of an inside forward, allowing Matty Cash to overlap and provide support. This can be key for Villa in buildup as Emery likes his forward line to be 1v1 with the opposition's defence. Malen can drag the left-back inside, giving Cash the freedom to bomb down the right to create chances.
Malen's Career
Malen began his footballing journey as a striker, in the Dutch capital, spending eight years with Ajax before first arriving in England with Arsenal in 2015. He then moved to Eindhoven, where he spent five months at Jong PSV before making his senior debut in 2017. PSV lifted the Eredivise in his debut season, with Malen playing a small part. In his first full season Malen scored 10 goals and 4 assists in 31 games in the league. The Dutchman played another two seasons at PSV, scoring 44 goals in 70 games in all competitions before joining the German side Borussia Dortmund in 2021.
During his time at Dortmund, he started to play more as a right-winger than a centre-forward, but that didn't stop him from scoring goals. The 23/24 season was his best in the German league, where he scored 13 goals in 27 appearances. Alongside Ian Maatsen, Malen earned a Champions League runner-up medal in the defeat to Real Madrid at Wembley.
Malen is a regular in the Dutch national team, collecting 43 appearances since his debut in 2019.
He started only 6 games for Dortmund in the first half of last season before joining Villa in the January transfer window. At 26-years-old Malen still has a lot of his career left to play and he will be hoping the 25/26 season for Villa could be his best yet. The Villans will play a lot of games in various competitions this season, with Malen certainly playing a large proportion of them, but he will want consistent game time to feel he can make an impact. With Villa supporters eager for him to succeed and a full pre-season to gain Emery's trust, this upcoming season could enable Malen to establish himself as a top Premier League winger.
