Former Arsenal star sent warning message to Arsenal after agreeing deal with Premier League club.
Arsenal could be haunted by one of their former players in the Premier League title race later this month.
Aston Villa are in talks to sign Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund having already had a bid rejected for the forward – and the 25-year-old could very much come back to haunt his old club Arsenal if he does make the move to Villa Park.
Malen joined the Gunners in 2015, revealing a year later to their official website: “When I found out Arsenal were interested in me I felt so proud and excited. Arsenal was a club that had always interested me for two main reasons, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry.”
The Netherlands international spent two years in their academy, leaving for PSV in August 2017 for approximately £540,000. Five years ago, Malen explained Arsenal’s then head of youth development Andries Jonker called him “too fat” before his exit.
He said: “I heard him say that I came in too fat. That surprised me. They had already been working at Arsenal for two months when I arrived. Then of course you are not immediately at the same level.
“I was not yet match fit, but too fat? No. It was going well in England, but I still wanted to leave Arsenal because I had the opportunity to sign for PSV. I took that chance.”
The Dutchman turned out to be a revelation in Eindhoven, producing 55 goals and 24 assists in 116 appearances. He added a few years later: “I still had a contract for a year and Arsenal even wanted to extend that. I don’t play football for the money. I never did that. Otherwise I would not have left England.
“There are stories that I was not fit when I came to Arsenal. But I have never been too fat, that really is a nonfasense story.”
He later left PSV for Dortmund in 2021 at a cost of £26million, replacing Jadon Sancho who headed to Manchester United. Now, three-and-a-half years on, Villa are in discussions about bringing Malen back to England and offering him his first taste of the Premier League.
Talks are ongoing with Dortmund thought to be demanding £16.6m plus bonuses for the versatile attacker after rejecting an initial £13.3m offer from Villa. Malen is ready to move on having struggled for regular starts at the Bundesliga club.
During his time in Germany, he has produced 39 goals and 20 assists in 131 games. He also has nine strikes in 41 caps for his country.
And a quick glance at Villa’s fixtures show Malen’s potential return to this country, having played 67 times for Arsenal’s youth teams, could see him land a gut punch on the Gunners. The north Londoners face Villa on January 18.
Malen – who his old Ajax youth coach Brian Tevreden once said is “a bit like Alexis Sanchez” – has yet to get the chance to play against Arsenal. And how he would enjoy sending a message to the London giants and putting a dent in their title bid in the process by starring at the Emirates.
Whether a deal is wrapped up by then remains to be seen, but certainly he is a player who can trouble the resilient Arsenal defence – even as a substitute off the bench – if he becomes a Villa player in the next 10 to 12 days.
Villa clearly see an opportunity to get a dangerous, and versatile, forward at a reasonable price. And under former Gunners boss Unai Emery, Malen will keen to prove Arsenal were wrong ever to let him leave.
