Aston Villa confirm forward exit in £25million deal
Villa have confirmed the departure of Donyell Malen to Roma in a deal worth around £25million.
The 26-year-old Netherlands international has joined the Italian club on an initial £2m loan for the rest of the season, with the transfer then being made permanent in the summer.
Malen joined Villa from Borussia Dortmund for £21m a year ago and went on to make 46 appearances for the club, scoring 10 goals.
But only 14 of those were starts and frustration over a lack of playing time paved the way for his exit.
Villa will now look to reshape their attack with Tammy Abraham prominent among their targets.
The 28-year-old, who scored 26 goals to help the club win promotion from the Championship while on loan from Chelsea in 2019, is currently playing for Besiktas, on loan from Roma.
Villa boss Unai Emery is increasingly hopeful of securing the signature of a player the club has tried to sign permanently three times before.
Emery, a long-time admirer of Abraham, believes he will be a better fit for his system than the departed Malen.
The latter suffered disappointment early in his Villa career when he was omitted from the club’s Champions League squad for the second half of last season.
This term he has continued to play second fiddle to Ollie Watkins despite the latter’s struggle for form in the openings months of the campaign.
