Liverpool-linked winger craves Premier League return; he’s made his preference clear – report
Liverpool could go head-to-head with a Premier League rival for one winger who’s reportedly craving a return to England.
According to CaughtOffside, the Reds and Arsenal both remain interested in Donyell Malen, whose Borussia Dortmund contract runs for two more years and contains a €40m (£33.8m) release clause.
Neither of the English suitors has indicated whether they’re prepared to meet that figure, although sources with insider knowledge of the situation have claimed that the 25-year-old’s preference would be the Gunners, having previously been a youth player in north London.
The report adds that the Netherlands international has apparently admitted it’d be a ‘beautiful dream’ to come back to the Premier League with his former club.
Having previously been on Arsenal’s books and grown up idolising Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry, it comes as no surprise that the Gunners would be Malen’s preferred option if he were to return to England.
The 25-year-old produced a solid return of 15 goals in 38 appearances for Borussia Dortmund last season and can play anywhere across the forward line. He’s mostly lined out on the right at Signal Iduna Park, so he could be a more than competent alternative to Mo Salah on that flank for Liverpool.
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In terms of goalscoring per 90 minutes, the Dutchman ranked among the top 2% of positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues in 2023/24, although he doesn’t compare anywhere near as favourably for underlying performance metrics within that subset of players (FBref).
A fee in the £35m region wouldn’t be prohibitive for Malen, especially when another Reds-linked right winger in Takefusa Kubo – whose goal return has been inferior – boasts a substantially higher release clause.
It’ll likely take a hugely enticing proposal to swing it Liverpool’s way if the player’s preference is Arsenal, but it could nonetheless be worth a try from Richard Hughes, particularly if it prevents a direct domestic rival from snapping up the talented forward.
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