Aston Villa have had a patchy first half of their Premier League campaign, leaving them eighth in the division after 20 games played. The Villains have won nine times, drawn five and lost six, sitting on 32 points, just four points off a top four spot.
Unai Emery’s side also sit fifth in the UEFA Champions League standings, with two games left to play in the group stage of this competition. January could be an important month for Villa, in order to best equip them for the second half of the season, to compete on all fronts.
One area Emery could look to strengthen is his wide forwards, having lost Moussa Diaby in the summer, who did offer something different when playing in wide areas, as well as the sale of summer signing Jaden Philogene, who didn’t live up to expectations.
Aston Villa transfer news
According to reports from Sky Sports News, Aston Villa have increased their bid to sign Borussia Dortmund forward, Donyell Malen.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Negotiations are expected to continue, as Villa’s new offer is said to be around £21m, whilst Dortmund want closer to £25m.
Tottenham are another team who have been linked to a move for Malen in recent days, but Villa seem to be ahead in the race for the 25-year-old forward, already having a bid rejected earlier in the window.
Malen has made 21 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring five goals, providing one assist and totalling 957 minutes played so far.
Aston Villa’s perfect Diaby replacement
The 25-year-old – who has been labelled “unstoppable” in the past by Jacek Kulig – could represent the perfect replacement for Moussa Diaby, should he eventually make the move from Dortmund.
After signing in the 2023 summer transfer window from Bayer Leverkusen, Diaby was sold to Saudi Pro League side, Al Ittihad, in the 2024 summer transfer window, for a fee of around £50m. The Frenchman made 54 appearances for the club, scoring ten goals, providing nine assists and totaling 3,144 minutes played.
Diaby was used as a versatile attacker for Emery last season, making appearances as a centre-forward, an attacking midfielder, off the right and off the left. Malen could provide similar versatility whilst also providing a similar toolset to Diaby in this Villa side.
|
Donyell Malen (2024/25) vs Moussa Diaby (2023/24) comparison |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
Malen |
Diaby |
|
Goals |
0.39 |
0.30 |
|
Assists |
0.23 |
0.27 |
|
xG |
0.47 |
0.25 |
|
xAG |
0.12 |
0.22 |
|
Progressive Carries |
2.95 |
3.93 |
|
Progressive Passes |
2.11 |
3.26 |
|
Shots Total |
2.81 |
2.04 |
|
Key Passes |
0.42 |
1.76 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
2.00 |
3.39 |
|
Successful Take-Ons |
1.47 |
1.18 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
||
Since Diaby left the club, Villa have lacked some of their transitional threat, using the outlet of Diaby to stretch teams and mix up their progression routes. He also provided good output in his first and only season, scoring 0.30 goals per 90 and providing 0.27 assists per 90.
Whilst Malen has worse progression numbers, he would offer the same outlet tendencies with his running power in behind, also bringing a similar level of output, scoring 0.39 goals per 90 this season and providing 0.23 assists per 90. Not to mention, the Dutchman also brings a higher shot volume and completes more successful take-ons.
So far this season, Malen has shown his versatility across the Dortmund front line, playing off both the left and right, as well as through the middle at times.
This versatility mixed with the pace and power he offers in transition would allow Villa to effectively replace Diaby, perhaps six-months later than planned.
Related
Another Grealish repeat: UCL giants make contact over £60m Aston Villa star
Paris Saint-Germain make contact with Aston Villa, aiming to sign one of their stars, in what would be Villa’s biggest sale since Jack Grealish.