Donyell Malen will most likely join Roma on a permanent deal from Aston Villa, as his obligation to buy clause is on track to be activated.placeholder image
Donyell Malen will most likely join Roma on a permanent deal from Aston Villa, as his obligation to buy clause is on track to be activated. | Getty Images
The truth about Donyell Malen’s transfer from Aston Villa to AS Roma, including the nature of the obligation to buy clause and the sell-on percentage.
Donyell Malen has gone from warming the bench at Aston Villa to becoming one of AS Roma’s star players, all within the space of a month.
The Netherlands international forward scored on his Roma debut away at Torino on January 18 and has since netted four goals in four matches, all coming in the last two outings against Cagliari and fellow UEFA Champions League chasers Napoli.
Two successive braces and man of the match awards have helped Malen become a rapid fan favourite at Stadio Olimpico. The 27-year-old has been starting matches as a centre-forward, a role many Villa supporters were crying out for him to play under Unai Emery.
You can’t say it’s not deserved success for Malen, who remained a model professional throughout a difficult period at Villa Park. Emery didn’t completely mistreat the Dutchman, as he rotated him in for Ollie Watkins occasionally, but minutes weren’t as regular as Malen would have hoped.
Will Malen leave Villa for Roma permanently?
Malen is currently still technically a Villa player as he’s only on loan at Roma, but that will soon change. It was Birmingham World’s understanding when Malen first moved to the Italian capital that the loan included an obligation to buy, set to be triggered by certain Roma milestones for the remainder of the season. More details have now been unveiled.
Transfer news journalist Fabrizio Romano reports Roma are expected to make Malen’s loan deal permanent, with Villa set to receive €25 million (£21.7m). Crucially, Romano reports that the obligation to buy clause will become active if Roma qualify for either the Champions League or the Europa League and Malen plays in at least half of the available matches.
So far, Malen has played in five of Roma’s seven matches, missing the two Europa League games as he could not be registered for the last two games of the league phase. Malen can play in the last 16, though, so if Roma are knocked out at that stage, there will be 15 more fixtures in total to play this term. Malen would need to feature in just six of those to hit the 50% threshold.
There’s no guarantee that Roma qualify for next season’s Europa League, achieved by a top-five finish in Serie A, but they are currently fourth and on track to get there. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have a five-point buffer to sixth-placed Atalanta, while there’s a six-point gap to Como in seventh.
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