Malen Putting Up Record Numbers Since Heading to Roma | OneFootball

Donyell Malen has had a devastating impact since joining Roma on an initial loan from Aston Villa, bagging five goals in his first five appearances, thanks to two braces. Only Gabriel Omar Batistuta outdid him in recent history, hitting the net six times in his first six showings with the Giallorossi. The Dutchman surpassed Stephan El Shaarawy thanks to his twofer versus Napoli, Alfredo Pedullà relays.

Coach Gian Piero Gasperini admitted to Sky that they’d have more points if they signed the marksman last summer, when they instead brought in Evan Ferguson and kept Artem Dovbyk, who didn’t find the target consistently before suffering a serious thigh injury.

Roma took advantage of the fact that Malen had slightly fallen out of favor at Aston Villa and onboarded him for a €2M fee plus a €25M option to buy that will turn into an obligation should they qualify for one of the top two UEFA competitions, Calcio e Finanza reports.

The Giallorossi have spent most of the campaign in the top four. They have a five-point cushion over seventh-place Como, which will play their make-up versus Milan on Wednesday.

The newcomer will ink a contract until 2030 with a €4M wages once he’s redeemed. The figure is fairly significant. However, it’s right at the cusp of what the capital club is willing to pay its best players under its revised and stingier wage policy.

He’ll have to keep it up, but forwards with his skill set are bound to be productive in Gasperini’s system. In hindsight, what happened with Joshua Zirkzee turned out to be serendipitous and spared them a few bucks, too.