Borussia Dortmund are keen on offloading Dutch forward Donyell Malen, who has attracted interest from the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, according to reports.
The fleet-footed winger has enjoyed and endured a mixed start to the current campaign. The incoming Dortmund head coach Nuri Sahin has not always started Malen, who has still managed to rack up three goals this season, including the opener against Real Madrid in a thrilling Champions League tie.
Dortmund lost that European fixture despite leading 2-0 at half-time. Sahin’s side have endured similar domestic setbacks and are still waiting for their first away win of the Bundesliga campaign. In response to the poor results, the club’s hierarchy has supposedly drawn up a five-player “strike list” of individuals to be sold this season, per the German publication Bild.
Malen is joined on Sahin’s naughty step by Dortmund’s most prolific creator, Julian Brandt, club captain Emre Can alongside the experienced duo of former Bayern Munich players Niklas Sule and Marcel Sabitzer.
In the absence of a reliable striker, Malen finished as Dortmund’s leading Bundesliga scorer last season, mustering 13 goals in 21 top-flight starts as he was shunted across all three positions in an often jumbled forward line. These performances attracted admiring glances from Premier League giants Arsenal and Liverpool.
The Gunners originally signed Malen from Ajax in 2015, but he never made an appearance for the first team. The 25-year-old Dutch forward revealed earlier this year that a move back to the Premier League would be “a beautiful dream” and described Arsenal as his preferred destination.
Bild have claimed that Malen was “mentally finished” with Dortmund last summer. Departed manager Edin Terzic left his number 21 on the bench for both legs of the Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain last season and only afforded the forward a ten-minute cameo in the showpiece fixture which his side lost to Real Madrid.
No move materialised as Malen rapidly cycled through a number of agencies over the off-season, but things may change now that Dortmund are seemingly keen on parting ways.
