Arsenal overtake Man Utd to make €50m star's dream come true

Robin Bairner

• 19 Mar 2024 07:20 GMT
• 4 min read

Arsenal could land a perfect backup to Bukayo Saka in the summer, with Mikel Arteta’s side moving ahead of Manchester United in the race to sign Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund.

Arteta has build a formidable squad at the Emirates Stadium, but one area where the Gunners do look a little short is in terms of a replacement for Saka. Malen, though, could solve that issue and is more than open to a return to Arsenal, where he played during his younger days.

Indeed, he has previously claimed it would be a “dream” to move back to the London side.

READ MORE: Man Utd and Liverpool ruin Arsenal plan: 'Next Odegaard' deal under threat

Sky Sports Deutschland reports that Arsenal are looking in good shape to capture the in-form winger, with Man Utd’s interest in the player not serious at this point.

According to Florian Plettenberg, Man Utd are not pushing to sign Malen but the Gunners could face rival interest from Liverpool and other unnamed Premier League clubs.

Malen, who has 13 goals and five assists for the season, and is under contract at BVB until 2026, wants to leave his current side and could do so for a price of €40-50 million including bonus payments.

READ MORE: Latest Arsenal transfer rumours

Malen admits Arsenal desire

Arsenal hold a significant advantage in this transfer race, with the Netherlands international having already confessed his desire to move back to the club.

Speaking in February, he issued a come-and-get-me plea.

“Because I played in England as a youth player, it remains a dream to one day play in the Premier League,” Malen told Voetbalzone. “Arsenal is my favourite club. Would I go back? Yes, I played there as a youth player and really wanted to break through there.”

He also explained why he left in the first place.

"Every now and then there are points in your football career where you have to make a decision," the multifunctional attacker said. "I trained with the Arsenal first team as a 17- and 18-year-old and so I did make progress in that respect, but I thought: ‘I just have to play professional football.’

“I saw a lot of former teammates who were already doing that and I was still playing youth football. So I just knew it was the right thing to do and that's how I felt at the time. That's when I finally went to PSV.”

Malen could now be on his way back to Arsenal, giving Arteta the Saka support that he craves.