Donyell Malen has been in red-hot form for AS Roma after leaving Aston Villa in January
Donyell Malen of Roma
Donyell Malen of Roma(Image: Getty Images)
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The Dutch forward joined on loan from Aston Villa in January and is expected to make the move permanent under a previously agreed obligation to buy, contingent on certain conditions.
Villa were happy to let Malen leave if the right deal arose, as they did not want to stand in the player’s way in his pursuit of more regular minutes as a striker.
Under Gian Piero Gasperini, Malen has made five appearances and scored five goals, including braces in his last two matches.
After netting on his debut against Torino in a 2-0 away win, Malen went goalless against Udinese and AC Milan. However, he is now in red-hot form, scoring four goals in his last two games.
Malen scored both of Roma’s goals against Cagliari, before following up with another brace against Napoli on Sunday night.
He twice put Roma ahead, scoring in the fourth minute and again in the 71st minute from the penalty spot. Napoli, however, managed to equalise twice, maintaining third place above Roma.
Villa will discover on February 27 whether they are on the same side of the Europa League knockout bracket as Roma. If so, the two clubs could face each other in the quarter-finals.
Gasperini, who has provided Malen opportunities that his previous coach was unwilling to, praised the Dutch striker following the 2-2 draw with Napoli.
“I’ve always firmly believed in Malen: he has the best possible attributes a player can have in my opinion,” Gasperini said.
“This team needs a forward like him. He is often in a position to be dangerous, and his team-mates deserve credit too. He has just arrived and we can keep improving.
“Then with Dybala if he recovers, plus Soule, who wasn’t 100 per cent fit today, and El Shaarawy, we could be more competitive. Malen is not only good at penalties but also at free kicks. It wasn’t easy against a keeper like Milinkovic-Savic; he did a good job.
“Of course, had we had Malen in the first half of the season, we would have a few more points now. But we’ve grown in terms of attitude. We’ve won many games, but we’ve lost many head-to-head matches. We sometimes came close to picking up points.
“We’re doing better in this second half of the season, despite drawing with Milan and Napoli. We’re disappointed with these two results as we came close to winning both games.”
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