When Borussia Dortmund transferred €30m to PSV Eindhoven to secure Donyell Malen’s services in the summer of 2021, expectations were high for the Dutch striker. A year and a half after the deal, there was no longer any sign of the euphoria at BVB – now the tide seems to be turning spectacularly.
No less than the footsteps of Jadon Sancho, who made a brilliant start to his professional career at BVB with 114 goals in 137 competitive games, awaited Donyell Malen in the summer of 2021, who committed a significant part of the 85 million euros collected for Sancho as a substitute became.
At the end of the Dutch international’s debut season in Dortmund, however, the tally was rather sobering, with nine goals and six assists in 38 games. Especially since Malen previously shone as a goal scorer on duty in his home country.
When there was hardly anything countable in the first half of the 2022/23 season, Malen was labeled a transfer flop, and an imminent farewell to the black and yellow was discussed more than once in the media.
BVB boss finds the right words
Certainly also because sports director Sebastian Kehl publicly took the 24-year-old to task in November 2022 when he explained in an interview with the “Ruhr Nachrichten”: “His goal tally is not satisfactory, that’s obvious.”
However, Kehl also emphasized that they continue to believe in Malen, who “can still really help” BVB if he fights his way out of his low form – words that have been followed by action in recent weeks.
In the last five league games, Malen has never been without a goal, even scored a brace in the 4-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt and also prepared three goals during this time.
An interesting comparison shows how strong this record is: The last BVB star to score in five league games in a row was none other than super striker Erling Haaland, who scored a total of 86 goals in just 89 games in Dortmund in 2022 to Manchester City moved on and continued to score at least once in almost every game.
By the way: Haaland’s BVB record is six league games in a row as a goalscorer.