Aston Villa Proven Wrong Over Donyell Malen Already After ‘Quality’ Roma Debut
The striker scored in his new club's 2-0 victory against Torino.
Donyell Malen enjoyed a Roma debut to remember, leading Gian Piero Gasperini to praise his “quality”.
Gian Piero Gasperini Praises Donyell Malen Debut
Malen took just 26 minutes to make an impact for his new club, scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 victory at Torino.
The striker joined on loan from Aston Villa on Friday and is likely to join permanently at the end of the season. Indeed, the obligation clause will be triggered should the Giallorossi qualify for any European competition.
He was immediately named in Gasperini’s starting XI and looked to have broken the deadlock earlier, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside after he had latched onto a pass from Paulo Dybala.
However, the duo linked up again to devastating effect just three minutes later after Malen slotted in Dybala’s ball.
The Netherlands international impressed during his 76 minutes on the pitch, before being withdrawn and replaced by fellow new signing Robinio Vaz, who arrived for €25million from Marseille.
Post-match, Gasperini heaped praise on Malen for already helping to lift the standard of his team-mates.
“A player like Malen raises the level of the squad,” Gasperini said.
“We played with quality. Dybala had an important match and scored an extraordinary first goal. He and Malen understand each other.
“Malen scores goals. He has the characteristics I was looking for. He can free himself both with diagonal runs and when attacking space. Also, he has speed and power, which are fundamental for the way we want to play.
“We want to build a team that can make the most of his qualities. He needs to play close to the penalty area.”
Gasperini’s comments will have stung Villa, who slumped to a blunt 1-0 defeat by Everton at Villa Park on Sunday.
Donyell Malen opened his account for Roma just 26 miuntes into his debut ⚡#TorinoRoma pic.twitter.com/h6x3hPC8uN
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) January 19, 2026
Donyell Malen Reflects on Paulo Dybala Partnership
Malen, who scored 10 goals in his 46 appearances for Villa after joining from Borussia Dortmund in January 2025, took four shots in total against Torino, missing one big chance. He also created one opening for a team-mate.
His eye-catching introduction for Roma helped propel them up to fourth in Serie A, just one point behind Napoli.
“Today was a good day,” he told DAZN. “I think we played well and got a good result.
“I’m obviously very happy. We put in a good performance and brought home the three points, so it would have been difficult to get better than this.
“Dybala? Obviously, this connection still needs to be built, but it’s easy to play with Paolo. He found me several times tonight and gave me two assists, because one was later disallowed.
“It was really very easy to play together. And the same goes for him: it’s easy to play with a striker like that.”
However, Dybala could leave Roma after admitting his long-term future is unlikely to lie in Italy.
Dan Davis
Dan is an experienced sports journalist and part-time lecturer. An expert on Serie A and Italian football, he has produced content for the likes of the Daily Mail, Reach PLC, GiveMeSport, FourFourTwo and GRV Media. While Channel 4's iconic Football Italia was a bit before his time, the nostalgia - and pastries - fuelled his love of all things Calcio.
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