In the ever-evolving landscape of European football, Donyell Malen stands as one of its most intriguing enigmas. At just 25, the Dutch forward's career has already traversed through Ajax, Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, Borussia Dortmund, and now Aston Villa, leaving behind a trail of both brilliance and bewilderment.
Malen's journey began with the kind of pedigree most young footballers can only dream of. At age seven, he entered Ajax's renowned academy, where he received guidance from Dutch legend Dennis Bergkamp at the under-10 level. By fourteen, he had caught the attention of super-agent Mino Raiola, who saw in him the makings of a future star.
The late Raiola's faith in Malen was unwavering. In 2017, speaking to the Daily Mail, he placed Malen in the same conversation as Gianluigi Donnarumma and Moise Kean, boldly marking him as his most anticipated prospect. At the time, Malen was with Arsenal, where expectations were sky-high.
Steve Morrow, Arsenal's head of youth development from 2014 to 2019, recalls the unique circumstances of Malen's arrival. "When I think about bringing Donyell into Arsenal, we invested a lot of time in him and profiled him for quite a while," Morrow explains. "Not a lot of players do this, but at first, he wanted to just come over for a week: not to train, but to wander around the training ground and meet people." Even Arsène Wenger was impressed with the young talent.
However, the promising start at Arsenal never materialized into a breakthrough. Morrow attributes this to adaptation challenges: "He had a quite difficult start to life in England. I'm not sure he ever settled in this country or in Hertfordshire, with his parents having to come over from the Netherlands to see him."
The pinnacle of Malen's career thus far came during the 2020-21 season at PSV, though ironically, it unfolded in empty stadiums during the pandemic. Playing alongside Eran Zahavi in Roger Schmidt's 4-2-2-2 formation, Malen showcased his full repertoire: 27 goals in 45 games, scoring with both feet, beating defenders, and displaying remarkable versatility in attack.
At Borussia Dortmund, where he currently plays, Malen's story has continued to perplex. Jurgen Koers of Ruhr Nachrichten describes his tenure as a "rollercoaster, with lots of ups and downs." While he managed to become the joint top-scorer with 15 goals in 38 appearances during the 2023-24 season, his performance has been marked by alternating periods of brilliance and anonymity.
"When he had his good form, he was one of the best strikers in the Bundesliga," Koers notes, "but he also had weeks and even months when he didn't score at all and could not be found anywhere on the pitch."
As Malen prepares for his next chapter at Aston Villa, he remains something of a Rubik's Cube in football terms - a puzzle that no one has quite solved yet. His career thus far embodies both the promise of exceptional talent and the challenges of consistency at the highest level. Under Unai Emery's guidance at Villa Park, perhaps this talented but enigmatic forward will finally find the stability and success that has seemed perpetually within reach yet somehow elusive.
