German football expert Matt Ford looks at Aston Villa's latest signing, Donyell Malen, who has joined from Borussia Dortmund.
Donyell Malen spent the majority of last season's UEFA Champions League final on the bench, a 10-minute cameo in the closing stages not enough to prevent Borussia Dortmund's 0-2 defeat to Real Madrid at Wembley.
Five months on, however, the Dutchman showed Dortmund what they'd been missing when he helped fire the "Black & Yellows" into a stunning half-time lead in the Santiago Bernabeu in this season's competition.
First, he found space in the area to receive a neat pass from Serhou Guirassy before slamming the ball past Thibaut Courtois.
Moments later, picking up possession on the right, Malen accelerated past Ferland Mendy and fired across the six-yard box for Jamie Gittens to tap home.
A ferocious second-half Real comeback would ultimately quash any Dortmund hopes of revenge but, in less than five minutes against the European champions, Malen had demonstrated the clinical finishing and penetrative pace which have convinced Aston Villa to sign him for a reported €25 million, plus up to €5m in bonuses.
For Malen, who passed through several Arsenal's Academy before establishing himself at PSV Eindhoven in his native Netherlands, the move marks a long-awaited return to English football after three-and-a-half seasons in the Bundesliga.
It also links him up with at least one familiar face in the form of compatriot Ian Maatsen. The full-back is yet to make his mark at Villa Park but impressed while on loan at Dortmund last season, including with a pinpoint crossfield ball to set up Malen for a goal at Cologne that had Kicker magazine hailing Dortmund's new "Dutch Connection."
"With Donny and Ian, you can see how they get out of tight situations with their dynamism and their technique," said Edin Terzic, the Dortmund head coach at the time.
Earlier in that Cologne game, Malen had showed another side to his game, making a clever run to latch on to a short Julian Brandt corner and firing home to complete a perfectly executed set-piece.
"Donny has incredible individual abilities which can make the difference in any game," said Terzic, under whom Malen scored 25 goals in all competitions. "We know all about his quality when he gets into dangerous positions, especially when he can use his pace and get one-on-one with the goalkeeper."
Malen would finish last season as Dortmund's Bundesliga top-scorer, with 13 goals, an accolade he had shared the previous campaign with Brandt and Sebastien Haller. All three scored nine goals as BVB came within inches of a first Bundesliga title since 2013, only to fall agonisingly short on the final day.
But despite continuing to deliver in front of goal – he scored a total of 39 goals in 131 appearances for Dortmund and assisted 20 more – Malen's departure had been on the cards for a while.
Local media reports suggest that he never really settled into life off the pitch in Germany, while both Terzic and his successor Nuri Sahin appear to have had reservations regarding the Dutchman's defensive contributions.
"On the one hand, the bosses appreciate his offensive qualities, but his work off the ball is sometimes rather listless," analysed Sky Sport Deutschland before Christmas.
In German forwards Karim Adeyemi and Maximilian Beier, plus Belgian talent Julien Duranville and the increasingly impressive Gittens, Dortmund will feel they are well-stocked in the wide areas.
Up front, Guirassy already has 12 goals in all competitions – although Dortmund struggled to create chances in a 3-2 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen as the Bundesliga resumed on Friday 10 January.
The departure of Malen, which will reportedly see Dortmund recoup most of the €30m they paid for him in 2021 while also getting a high-earner off the wage bill, also makes financial sense.
Unai Emery and Villa will hope so, too.
Matt Ford (@matt_4d_) is a freelance journalist specialising in German football, fan culture and sports politics.
