‘Absolute Priority’ – Club Ready To Raise Cash To Sign Aston Villa Man Permanently | OneFootball

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Roma are focused on raising money to sign Aston Villa on-loan forward Donyell Malen, who has become the ‘absolute priority’ for the Serie A giants.

The Dutchman started his career at Eredivisie giants Ajax, who fought ‘tooth and nail’ to keep him from Arsenal’s clutches, but the Gunners ended up signing him when he was only 16 years old.

However, Malen left the London club two years later and he impressed at PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund before returning to England last year.

Aston Villa brought him in from Dortmund in the 2025 winter transfer window, as Unai Emery looked to beef up his attack.

Emery, though, mostly used Malen as an impact substitute, even though his tactical work was lauded by the Spaniard when he did get his chances.

The Dutchman was mainly deployed as a winger by Emery, but the 27-year-old fancied playing down the middle, as a number 9, which made him leave the club in the winter window.

Malen is currently on loan at the Giallorossi, who have an obligation to buy him, though the conditions under which that would apply have been subject to different interpretations.

The Netherlands international has scored eleven goals and provided one assist in only 15 games, and Roma are doing everything they can to sign him though regardless of the clause and its conditions.

There have been suggestions that Roma need to tread carefully to remain within financial fair play rules when doing any deal.

And they are, according to Italian daily Tuttosport (via La Roma 24), now fully focused on making sure they have the finances needed to keep Malen.

Roma consider signing Malen to be their ‘absolute priority’ and are acting accordingly.

A handful of Roma stars are currently out on loan to different clubs and they are hoping that some of their options to buy get triggered by the end of the season.

One Dutch legend believes that the pace of Italian football suits Malen, who he thinks has every element of a quality marksman.

Aston Villa will also need to comply with the Premier League’s PSR rules in the upcoming summer window and they will hope to see Malen’s buyout clause triggered by the Serie A giants.

However, his performances at Roma have been of a high quality, and it remains to be seen whether the Villans will regret letting go of Malen.