Aston Villa are very close to securing a deal for Borussia Dortmund right winger Donyell Malen, who would effectively replace another former Bundesliga star in Moussa Diaby; the Frenchman just left for Saudi Arabia this past summer at a tidy profit despite struggling in his lone season at Villa Park.
Although Aston Villa have Leon Bailey, the Jamaican international is getting older, and Villa don’t have any other pure wingers. Malen could come in and be an explosive addition with real goal-scoring upside.
Dortmund seem to be putting urgency on Aston Villa to get a deal done on the Bundesliga giant’s terms by floating around the possibility of working on a deal with a Premier League rival.
Aston Villa aren’t just looking at Malen as an option on the right wing, though. They have also been linked with one of Unai Emery’s former Villarreal stars, Nigerian international Samuel Chukwueze, who is too good to be sitting on the AC Milan bench.
However, now, French outlet RMC Sport report that Aston Villa are showing interest in another right winger with a LaLiga pedigree in PSG’s Spanish international Marco Asensio.
The former Real Madrid forward hasn’t been good in years, as a torn ACL about five years ago completely changed his game, robbing the world of a player who could have become one of the world’s best.
Asensio can still score some bangers from range, but he is a very limited athlete who can’t win one-on-ones. His technical quality makes him a theoretical playmaking threat, but his key pass statistics over the years are underwhelming, whether at PSG or Real Madrid.
Since moving to PSG, Asensio has done little to prove Real Madrid wrong for letting him go, and, actually, one of the pivotal changes that led Real to beat PSG and go on to win the Champions League in 2021/22 was benching Asensio for center midfielder Fede Valverde on the right wing.
Needless to say, Asensio is no alternative to either Malen or Chukwueze if Aston Villa want to sign an explosive, talented, high-upside right winger who is capable of starting in the Premier League.
Asensio, if anything, is the opposite of that profile. It seems like every year, Asensio is lazily linked to Aston Villa, and the end result will be the same in 2025 as it has been every other year. Aston Villa will simply look elsewhere.
