Sebastien Kehl wants to sell Donyell Malen to Aston Villa for a fee of €25-30m and is proving to be a ‘tough negotiating partner’ in talks between the clubs.
That’s according to Ruhr Nachrichten, who report that the transfer poker around the Dutchman continues.
The talks are currently taking place between three parties, Aston Villa, Borussia Dortmund and Malen’s representatives the ‘Wasserman’ agency.
Kehl wants a total package of €25-30m for the player and Aston Villa are seemingly yet to reach that figure. However, everyone involved remains confident that an agreement will be reached in the coming days.
Everything between Aston Villa and Malen ‘has long been clear’ and he has agreed to a contract until 2028 with a salary increase to around €9m.
While that transfer appears to be a matter of time, the newspaper insists Marcus Rashford is very unlikely to be arriving from Manchester United as Malen’s replacement.
While he wants to leave Manchester United this month and has made that clear, Dortmund have only ‘loosely dealt’ with the forward.
The fact is that a loan deal has been rejected for several reason by the German club. It is largely a matter of finances, though.
It would simply be too high of a hurdle for Dortmund to jump given he earns over €20m a year annually at Manchester United at this moment in time.
There is also a question of suitability. Dortmund’s leadership of Nuri Sahin, Kehl and Lars Ricken believe that Rashford only fits the profile ‘to a limited extent’. Thus, he is unlikely to be targeted even if Malen ends up at Aston Villa.
