Donyell Malen thriving after Gasperini switch at Roma

Gian Piero Gasperini has repeated a familiar trick since arriving at Roma: deploy a versatile attacker centrally. He used the same approach with Ademola Lookman at Atalanta, and has now moved Donyell Malen from the wing into a centre‑forward role. Malen joined on loan from Aston Villa for €2 million and has delivered six goals in eight games.

His hot start put him alongside club greats — only Gabriel Batistuta scored more (eight) in his first seven games — and in early March he was behind only Harry Kane (nine) across Europe’s top five leagues. Since his debut he has led Roma in shots on goal (36), shots on target (13), shots inside the penalty area (31), touches inside the penalty area (70) and expected goals (5.48), and he was named the league’s Player of the Month for February.

The goals have arrived at a crucial time: Roma scored just 22 in the first half of the season and are coping with absences, with Paulo Dybala out for another month and a half, Artem Dovbyk sidelined for four weeks and Evan Ferguson ruled out for the season.

donyell malen, gasperini, as roma, centre-forward, aston villa, goals, expected goals, harry kane, gabriel batistuta, paulo dybala