Donyell Malen has been told Aston Villa never had “a plan for him from the start” as he continues to enjoy a fresh start at Roma.
The Dutchman, who left Villa Park in January to join the Giallorossi, has already scored five goals in as many games for his new team.
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The 27-year-old is the first player since Gabriel Batistuta in 2000 to score at least five goals in his first five Serie A games for Roma.
Malen’s tally in Italy is already one more goal than he scored in 21 Premier League games for Villa in the first half of the season.
However, the attacker was only in the starting line-up for Unai Emery in five first division games this season and did not play a full 90 minutes once.
Malen makes a record start at Roma
Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini has revealed that he convinced Malen to join the club by promising to use him in his preferred striker position.
“I think Serie A is more difficult than other leagues, especially for strikers. I am convinced he can be crucial in this role,” Gasperini said.
“He played for Aston Villa and the national team. I convinced him to play for Roma by telling him: ‘You will play.’
“He often ended up on the wing, but for me he’s a striker and that’s what he wanted. A striker doesn’t have to be 1.90 m tall.”
Tellingly, Malen is less than 180cm tall, while his Villa replacement, Tammy Abraham, is 1.94m tall and has already won the same number of aerial duels in the Premier League in 17 fewer appearances.
Nevertheless, European football expert Andy Brassell argued that the Netherlands international was entitled to feel short-changed by Emery.
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Aston Villa “on the wrong foot”
Much was expected of Malen when he moved from Borussia Dortmund for £22m in the middle of the 2025 winter window.
But then Villa brought in Axel Disasi, Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford on loan before the deadline, leaving the current Roma star out of their squad for the knockout phase of the Champions League.
Brassell told The Pitch Prospect.com: “When it comes to Malen giving a fair performance at Villa, he never did, did he?”
“You go back to the beginning when this guy who’s a good Champions League player already shows up at Villa and thinks: ‘Okay.’
I’m joining another Champions League club in England, it’s going to be great, and then they sign Rashford and Asensio.
“Two loan players, although of course two very accomplished loan players, and suddenly he is no longer in the Champions League squad, so he is already on the wrong foot, or they are on the wrong foot with him.”
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“Like I said, if I was painting, I would have been angry about this,” Brassell continued.
“And I probably would have been angry at my agent for putting me in that situation because his versatility is almost his undoing.
“He’s someone who can play a lot of different roles up front and can even really act as a wide midfielder, and he’s also good at running without the ball.”
“That kind of stopped him from making a name for himself in this Villa team. So from Villa’s point of view, I’m a little disappointed that after Rashford and Asensio left, he didn’t get more minutes and didn’t play a bigger role this season.”
“Well, I guess because Ollie Watkins is important to them and will remain. That’s understandable.”
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“I think you look at the fact that they brought in Tammy Abraham who has a different striker profile that can offer something different to Ollie Watkins, which I think is very important to have different profiles in your squad.”
“But it always seems like working with Villa and Malen was never a destiny.
“If you look at the numbers, if you watch the games, he never let them down or anything like that.”
“But it just felt like they didn’t really have a plan for him from the start. I refuse to believe they bought him thinking he wouldn’t be in the Champions League squad.”
“They bought it, there were other market opportunities, and then it kind of faded into the background.”