Virgil van Dijk, Ollie Watkins react to Donyell Malen amid Aston Villa exit links
Virgil van Dijk and Ollie Watkins were among a host of stars to have reacted to a post by Donyell Malen amid rumours around his future at Aston Villa.
Malen joined the Villans in the recent January window for an initial fee of £21million [Sky Sports] from Borussia Dortmund, after spending three-and-a-half years with the German giants.
He was signed by Unai Emery’s side in the midst of a busy month for transfers at the club, as both Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio joined on loan to bolster the Basque boss’ attacking ranks.
Their respective arrivals did not work in Malen’s favour, as he was left out of Emery’s Champions League squad and made just 14 Premier League appearances and two starts before the end of the campaign, scoring three times.
The Athletic claimed (8 February) that the 25-year-old was left “deeply disappointed” at his exclusion from their Champions League squad, as former club chief Keith Wyness revealed to Football Insider that Malen had chosen to move to Villa Park mainly to play in Europe’s premier club competition.
The former Arsenal youth player has now joined up with his Netherlands teammates for World Cup qualifying duty, and his talent was on show against Malta on Tuesday (10 June) evening, as he netted a late brace to help them to a huge 8-0 victory.
Malen sends ‘timing’ message as Van Dijk and Watkins react
The 25-year-old featured for just 10 minutes of Villa’s last three league games of the season as they battled to finish in the top five, and his lack of game-time heightened rumours of a potential summer exit.
Despite those exit links, Football Insider recently revealed that Unai Emery has been impressed with Malen’s performances and does not want to see him leave in the coming months.
He did not play in the Netherlands’ first World Cup qualifying game against Finland on 7 June, but came on to star against Malta last time out as Ronald Koeman’s side thrashed their minnow opponents.
Malen reacted to the win and his performance with a post and message on Instagram, saying: “Trusting His timing, always,” which was met with plenty of response from both his club and international teammates, as the likes of Van Dijk, Watkins, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Ryan Gravenberch all liked the post.
He was also left messages of support by those that play alongside him for either Villa or Oranje, as Morgan Rogers commented with three fire emojis, Amadou Onana said: “Don” and new Liverpool man Jeremie Frimpong replied with: “Madtingggg.”
Emery should give Malen a bigger role in his squad next season with key players potentially departing
Football Insider verdict
Malen’s move to Villa has not quite gone as planned so far, but he should not be written off after a tough first few months at the club, especially given that it was his first taste of senior football in England.
The 25-year-old is already an established forward in Europe, having played for numerous years at Dortmund and with the Netherlands’ national team since 2019, and he showed glimpses of his ability last term with three successive strikes in games against Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Southampton.
| Appearances | Starts | Goals | Assists |
Emery is already short on forward options compared to 2024/25, with loanee Rashford unlikely to return amid links to Barcelona, while Mick Brown recently revealed to Football Insider that the Villa boss has concerns about Asensio’s fitness levels, with a return to the club unlikely, as a result.
Villa are expected to have to sell some key players this summer, after missing out on Champions League qualification, and star attacker Rogers could depart with Manchester City and Chelsea both interested.
It is clear that they could be worse off at the start of next season, in terms of forward options, and so Malen must be handed a bigger role in Emery’s squad in both the Premier League and Europa League as they look to improve on a sixth-placed finish.