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A scout report of Donyell Malen

Arsenal have garnered a poor reputation of letting talented young players leave the club on the cheap and then they eventually become world-class talents.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

Bengaluru, May 5: Arsenal have garnered a poor reputation of letting talented young players leave the club on the cheap and then they eventually become world-class talents.

Two of Arsenal's such big mistakes in the last decade has been Serge Gnabry and Donyell Malen. While the former has already become a superstar at Bayern, the latter has also been quite impressive in the last couple of seasons.

Arsenal, who sold the 21-year-old to PSV Eindhoven for just £500,000 in 2017, are believed to be interested in bringing the Dutchman back to the Emirates but they are set to face competition from the likes of Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool and Spurs.

In this article, we will take a look at the Dutch sensation who made the headlines in Eredivisie on a consistent basis this season.

A direct forward

Malen has all the traits of a modern-day forward who is effective either as a centre forward or as a wide forward. His direct game and ability to effortlessly dribble past opponents makes him a tricky player to deal with. He has bags of pace and knows how to use it to create space for himself. He is excellent on the ball and is a very unpredictable kind of player.

In many ways, he is a lot similar to modern-day wide forwards like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane or Raheem Sterling. He has also been compared to former Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez from his earlier days as an Arsenal youth graduate.

A forward who can score and create

Malen started his career on the flanks and eventually found his home in the number nine role which makes him a blend of a winger and a striker. He is far from a typical centre-forward who is all about scoring goals. The 21-year-old is quite creative as well and knows how to pick out his teammates. He is quite comfortable playing on either wing or in the number 10 role.

The Dutch international tends to drop deep or drift wide to create space for himself and make himself available as an option to pass. His 1.6 key passes per 90 minutes this season shows that he is not hesitant to pass the ball to his teammates if he sees them in a goalscoring position. He is pretty much a complete forward and it is therefore hardly a surprise that Barcelona want him as a long-term replacement of Luis Suarez.

A prolific goalscorer

Malen has produced 3.6 shots on average per 90 minutes this season which shows that he loves to take his chances. But, considering that Eredivisie is more of a league where the game is usually much more open, his high number of shots can be justified.

Meanwhile, his 19% conversion ratio is not pretty impressive either but he can certainly improve on that with more experience and playing time. He is still only just 21 years of age with his best days ahead of him.

Meanwhile, he has produced a total of nine assists this season 25 games while averaging 26 passes per game which shows that he is more creative than most centre-forwards in Europe.

This has certainly been a breakthrough season for the Malen, which was prematurely ended by injury but his return of 17 goals and nine assists in 25 games is a pretty impressive figure. He is certainly a very special player and could be the next big export from PSV.

Meanwhile, he also looks like a possible solution to the Netherlands' long-standing issue up front at number nine.

Story first published: Tuesday, May 5, 2020, 20:37 [IST]
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