Aston Villa in talks over surprise January exit for popular forward

Malen is one of only three Villa players, along with Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins, to have featured in all 29 of the club's matches this season, scoring seven goals.

But the 26-year-old has started only 10 of those games and is believed to be frustrated at his lack of playing time, raising the possibility of a potential departure just 12 months after joining from Borussia Dortmund in a £21million move.

Malen suffered disappointment early in his Villa career when he was omitted from the squad for the knockout stages of last year’s Champions League, after Unai Emery moved for both Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio on loan in the final days of the January window.

This season he has been limited to just five Premier League starts, with Emery having largely kept faith with Watkins despite the latter’s struggles during the first three months of the campaign.

Just as last year, Villa are shaping up to have a busy January window with Emery targeting ambitious moves for both Conor Gallagher and Tammy Abraham.

That is despite the club still having to tread carefully in the market to ensure they comply with Uefa’s spending rules.

Emery has already confirmed Villa “can’t spend a lot” this month due to the restrictions, with the club adopting the same pragmatic approach as in recent windows.

Reaching an agreement with Liverpool over the early termination of Harvey Elliott’s season-long loan would free up space on the wage bill and provide a little more wriggle room.

Elliott has not played since October, with Emery recently confirming he has no intention of letting the 22-year-old make the 10 appearances which would require Villa to buy him permanently for £35million.

At this stage, Villa have no interest in recalling Leon Bailey from his season-long loan at Roma. The winger has been limited to just 10 appearances for the Italian club due to injury.

One player who is expected to be on the move this month is young defender Finley Munroe.

The 20-year-old, who made two first-team appearances in the 2023-24 season, has been the subject of bids worth around £350,000 from both Bristol City and Middlesbrough.

Munroe has spent the first half of the season on loan with Swindon in League Two, making 27 appearances and scoring two goals for Ian Holloway’s side.

But Villa are likely to trigger a recall option before it expires later this week to allow him to make a permanent move elsewhere.