Aston Villa star heading for exit after £25million deal agreed

The Netherlands international is due to fly to Italy on Wednesday to complete the move, exactly a year to the day since joining Villa from Borussia Dortmund.

Malen will initially sign for Roma on loan, with the Serie A club paying a £2m fee. The deal includes an obligation to buy the 26-year-old in the summer for £25m.

Malen is one of only three players to have featured in all 29 of Villa’s matches this season, scoring seven goals.

But the former Arsenal academy star has started only 10 of those games and frustration over his lack of playing time has opened the door to an exit.

Atletico Madrid and Napoli also showed interest but it was Roma who pushed hardest for his signature.

Villa will make a small profit on the £21m they paid Dortmund for Malen 12 months ago.

While boss Unai Emery is a fan of the player, he has been reluctant to use him as a central striker, instead keeping faith with Ollie Watkins despite the latter’s struggle for form during the early months of the season.

Malen suffered disappointment early in his Villa career when he was omitted from the club’s squad for the knockout rounds of the Champions League, with Emery instead preferring loan signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio.

Villa, who missed out on the signing of midfielder Conor Gallagher earlier in the week, will now seek an attacking replacement for Malen. 

Former loanee Tammy Abraham, currently on loan from Roma at Besiktas, is among their targets.