Manchester United have been linked to a former Premier League striker with Chelsea and Newcastle United also of interest
Manchester United are one of three Premier League clubs credited with a transfer interest in Donyell Malen. The 27-year-old went on loan to AS Roma from Aston Villa in January and has made an excellent impression in Italy with 11 goals in 14 games.
The Serie A side have an option-to-buy him for between €25million (21.6m) and €30million (£25.9m) that is expected to be activated. Despite that, United, Chelsea and Newcastle United are ‘the big clubs watching’, according to a Corriere dello Sport report.
They have claimed that the feeling is he is already worth double the minimum amount Roma could play. However, there is no plan to sell from Roma’s perspective once he joins with their owners, the Friedkins, expected in the city this week to green light the switch.
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From Villa’s perspective, it is seemingly already wrapped up with Unai Emery issuing a Malen verdict earlier this week. He said: “It’s a loan with an option to buy, which Roma will exercise given his results. And for that reason, I’d like to say again that I’m very happy for him, because he’s a good guy and a good player.”
“Here he faced competition from Watkins, so he played less for that reason, and I thought he should play more as a striker.
“He sometimes played alongside Watkins, so I think he’s finding the perfect spot at Roma and has played every game to exploit his qualities and score goals. I’m very happy for him because he’s also a good guy. And I hope he continues to score goals.”
Malen’s goals have helped Roma stay in the race for European qualification with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side sitting in sixth, which is a Conference League qualification place.
Four games of their season remain with Roma only a few points behind Juventus and Como but well clear of Atalanta.
Interest from Chelsea and Newcastle, given their goal-scoring woes makes sense but Old Trafford links to Malen are somewhat surprising given the mass spend on attackers last summer with Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha joining for a combined £193million.
Those three forwards have been key to United’s successful season with the latter duo bagging winning goals in United’s last two victories over Chelsea and Brentford.
Following his decisive strike at Stamford Bridge, Cunha missed Monday’s win over the Bees but he has been spotted back in training and is therefore expected to return for the visit of Liverpool.
Three points against Arne Slot’s side will seal Champions League qualification for next season but they will fall below their bitter rivals if beaten on Sunday.
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