Ten Hag targets perfect winger to provide Antony competition at Man Utd

Imre Himmelbauer

29 Nov 2023 15:42 CST
3 min read

Manchester United hope to strengthen themselves with Donyell Malen, German media report.

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The 24-year-old attacker from Borussia Dortmund was of great value to his club at the end of last season. This season he has five goals and two assists after 18 games.

Malen played for Ajax's youth team for seven years but switched to Arsenal in 2015. The winger, who can also play striker, then moved back to the Netherlands, joining PSV in 2017. Malen made his definitive breakthrough in Eindhoven, and in the 2020/21 season, he became the club's top scorer with 19 goals.

Dortmund decided to take a punt on him, shelling out €30 million. However, Malen has not been able to convince with the Black and Yellow as he did at the Philips Stadium. FootballTransfers cited him as a potential option for Man Utd earlier in the week when it was announced that he had joined Erik ten Hag's agency; now, the Red Devils actually appear to be eyeing him.

United to strengthen the flanks

The United coach is emphatically looking for reinforcements on the flanks, partly due to Antony's repeatedly poor showings. The 23-year-old Brazilian came over from Ajax for no less than €95 million in the summer of 2022 but has not yet been convincing.

This season, the winger has not yet managed to directly contribute to a goal, looking abysmal for most of the campaign and struggling with off-field issues in the form of domestic violence allegations. Last season, Antony finished with 10 goals and five assists after 47 matches.

As for Malen, in his first season at Dortmund, he scored 9 goals and got 6 assists in 38 games. In his second season, he had only scored twice and provided three assists until March 18.

However, thanks to an excellent end to the season, in which the versatile attacker scored eight times and provided five assists in 10 matches, Malen ultimately ended the football season with solid numbers.