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Opinion
Unai Emery may have already upset new signing at Aston Villa after what £21m player said
Unai Emery saw his Aston Villa squad improve significantly during the winter transfer window.
The headline arrivals were Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio – who joined on loan from Manchester United and PSG respectively – while Donyell Malen also arrived in a move from Borussia Dortmund.
🌄Furthermore, Andres Garcia joined in a switch from Levante – while Axel Disasi arrived on loan from Chelsea.
Aston Villa had a decent squad anyway before these five additions – leaving Unai Emeryꦡ with the right type of selection headache at Villa Park – although the Spaniard may well have already upset one new face in Malen.
Why Donyell Malen might already be annoyed at Aston Villa
♊Upon his arrival in the Midlands, the Netherlands international spoke about wanting to partake in the “big” games and win trophies with the Villans.
꧟Malen told : “I have done a lot to be here… I want to win prizes, to play big games.
ဣ“You see the club going forward in the Champions League, top eight, which is a very big thing. We just have to keep looking forward.”
🔴The new Aston Villa No.17 also said: “It’s the biggest competition in the world. I played in it for the last few years so for me it was a very important thing when deciding to move. This is where you want to play.”
However, due to the fact 🤡UEFA only allow three new players to be registeredඣ for the knockout stages of their competitions, Emery has left Malen out, opting for Rashford, Asensio and Disasi.
What Unai Emery said about leaving Donyell Malen out of the UEFA Champions League
ꦛEmery has already addressed this topic when speaking to the media, saying: “It was not easy, the conversation with him.
💙“It is not fair but the rules pushed us to take the decision and I explained to him why we took it. Of course, he accepted but it is not easy for him to be with us now and not playing in the Champions League.”
🥶🥶🥶
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial)
Of course, ꦫMalen, who some Borussia Dortmund fans were sad to lose💝, may have “accepted” the decision – presumably keen not to rock the boat immediately after committing himself to Aston Villa until 2029 – but we highly doubt the man from Wieringen is pleased.
🦄To make matters worse, Borussia Dortmund coasted to a 3-0 win over Sporting CP in the first leg of their play-off for the Round of 16, a game the Dutchman surely would have been involved in.