Aston Villa have opened talks with Borussia Dortmund to sign Donyell Malen.
Villa are keen to sign another versatile forward and a right-sided defender this window and want Malen.
According to Sky in Germany, Dortmund are demanding £16.6m (€20m) plus bonuses and are ready to sell the Netherlands international, who is understood to be looking to move elsewhere given his lack of starts.
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Malen scored in Dortmund’s 3-1 win at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga
The Bundesliga side have rejected an initial Villa offer of £13.3m (€16m) plus bonuses for the 25-year-old.
The Athletic are reporting an offer has been made of £15m (€18m) plus bonuses and Sky in Germany believe this is the second offer.
Malen has scored five goals across 20 games in all competitions this season for Dortmund, netting in their last game in a 3-1 Bundesliga win at Wolfsburg.
Malen has scored 39 goals in 131 appearances for Dortmund in three and a half years at the German giants.
Malen joined Dortmund from PSV Eindhoven in July 2021 for a reported £26m as he replaced Jadon Sancho following his move to Manchester United.
Malen is a former Arsenal academy player having spent two years at the north London club before being sold to PSV in the summer of 2017.
Ipswich interested in Villa’s Philogene
Could Donyell Malen replace Villa’s Jaden Philogene (pictured) who is interesting Ipswich?
Sky Sports News’ Dharmesh Sheth:
Villa’s potential move for Malen comes amid interest from Ipswich Town in Villa forward Jaden Philogene.
The Tractor Boys are keeping an eye on the 22-year-old’s situation.
Ipswich agreed a deal with Hull City to sign Philogene in the summer only for Villa to trigger a matching clause, having sold him to Hull in 2023.
The England U21 international has started four games in all competitions this season.
Ipswich are keen to strengthen across a number of positions this month.
Aston Villa’s January transfer window plans assessed
Aston Villa are continuing their work from the summer and looking to strengthen in two areas they missed out on; an attacking midfielder who can also operate out wide and a versatile right-sided defender that is adept at both right-back and centre-back.
One defender they were keen on in the summer was Feyenoord’s Lutsharel Geertruida amid doubts over the future of Diego Carlos, but he moved to RB Leipzig. Matty Cash is currently the club’s only recognised right-back.
In the attacking positions, they liked Giovani Lo Celso, Joao Felix and Matias Soule among others in the summer but all went elsewhere. Spanish media has recently linked Alex Baena with a move to rejoin his former Villarreal manager Unai Emery.
Kortney Hause and Robin Olsen see their contracts expire on June 30 so they can speak to foreign clubs from January 1, although Hause has struggled with injury problems.
Several players out on loan, including Lewis Dobbin, Louie Barry and Tommi O’Reilly, may be recalled and sent on loan elsewhere.
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