Just when Donyell Malen was enjoying life at Roma after leaving Aston Villa, along comes Antonio Cassano to pour cold water on the fire.
Forza Roma cover comments from the Italian mouthpiece today. While everyone is celebrating Malen, he’s, predictably, got a very different take on the situation.
For those that don’t know, Malen is currently shining at Roma. The 27-year-old joined them on loan from Aston Villa in the middle of January. That loan includes an obligation for the summer transfer window.
Roma will be happy for that to happen, as he’s hit the ground running in Serie A. To date, he has five goals in five games for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, including two doubles in his last two games.
Rapid improvement
It’s been a rapid improvement on his short stint at Aston Villa, where he managed 10 goals and two assists in 46 games after joining for €25m in January last year.
The response in Italy has been nothing but positive. Sport Witness have covered the response extensively, from comparisons with Gianluca Vialli to comments from the striker himself.
Malen took a little bit of a shot at Aston Villa by labelling Roma an “ambitious club”.
Aston Villa a level above
Like rain at a picnic, though, Cassano wants to put a damper on things. According to him, Malen is only thriving because Serie A isn’t as good as the Premier League.
“Malen is an excellent player, but Serie A is five steps below the Premier League,” he said.
“Those who come to Italy from England make the difference. He was also a bench player at Borussia Dortmund.
Gasperini really likes him, and he found the right player; Roma did well to sign him. Malen is perfect for this type of football. Emery is one of the best coaches in the world, he probably wasn’t at his level in England.”