Aston Villa have started talks with Borussia Dortmund to sign Donyell Malen.
Villa are keen to sign the flexible striker and right-back in this window and have reserved 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.
The Bundesliga side have rejected an initial Villa offer of £13.3m (€16m) plus bonuses for the 25-year-old.
The Athletic reports that an offer of £15m (€18m) plus bonuses has been made and that Sky in Germany is the time to offer it.
Malen has scored five goals across 20 games in all competitions this season for Dortmund, netting in their last game, a 3-1 Bundesliga win at Wolfsburg.
The former Arsenal youth player discovered a total of 39 times in 131 appearances for Dortmund in three and a half years with the German giants.
The Dutchman joined Dortmund from PSV Eindhoven in July 2021 for £26m, replacing Jadon Sancho, who moved to Manchester United earlier this summer.
Malen spent two years in Arsenal’s academy before arriving at PSV in the summer of 2017.
Dharmesh Sheth from Sky Sports News:
Villa’s potential move for Malen comes amid interest from Ipswich in Villa forward Jaden Philogene.
The Tractor Boys are closely following the situation of the 22-year-old.
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 foreigner has 4 caps in all competitions this season.
Ipswich are keen to strengthen across a number of positions this month.
Latest from Sky Sports News’ Lyall Thomas:
Norwich are in the running for a loan deal for Aston Villa winger Lewis Dobbin.
Villa recalled the 21-year-old from West Brom and Norwich are hopeful of concluding a new loan deal quickly.
Dobbin signed for Villa from Everton in the summer but struggled for game time at The Hawthorns.
He has made 18 appearances, with only one league start, with West Brom scoring one goal this season.
Aston Villa have been working since the summer and are looking for two spaces that have been lost; an attacking midfielder who can also function outdoors and a flexible right-back who dominates both right-back and centre-back.
One of the defenders they liked this summer, Feyenoord’s Lutsharel Geertruida, amid doubts about Diego Carlos’s future, however, signed for RB Leipzig. Matty Cash is lately the only recognized right back at the club.
In attacking positions, this summer they appreciated, among others, Giovani Lo Celso, Joao Félix and Matías Soule, but they all went elsewhere. Spanish media recently linked Alex Baena with a move to sign his former Villarreal coach 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 loan players, including Lewis Dobbin, Louie Barry and Tommi O’Reilly, could be recalled and sent on loan elsewhere.
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