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Donyell Malen may have a rather awkward reunion with Lisandro Martinez if he joins Manchester United in the January transfer window.
We aren’t expecting to see major transfer business from United in January.
The expected departure of Jadon Sancho could unlock some incomings – and one of them may be Donyell Malen.
Fabrizio Romano claims that United have already spoken to the representatives of Borussia Dortmund forward Malen ahead of the January window.
There have also been reports of a potential Sancho for Malen exchange, paving the way for the Englishman to rejoin Dortmund following his 2021 exit.
Donyell Malen clashed with Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez
If Malen does end up at Old Trafford, then he will become a teammate of Lisandro Martinez after a rather fractious past.
Malen used to go head-to-head with Martinez as PSV Eindhoven faced Ajax in one of Dutch football’s biggest games.
On one occasion, they took going ‘head-to-head’ quite literally.
Back on February 10th 2021, Malen and PSV travelled to Amsterdam to take on Ajax in the KNVB Beker.
Ajax ran out 2-1 winners but only after Malen and Martinez had a rather angry spat.
As PSV chased a late equaliser, Ajax defender Nicolas Tagliafico went down claiming to have been elbowed by Malen.
The referee bought it, meaning Malen lost his cool and screamed in the face of Tagliafico.
Martinez went running straight over, defending his fellow Argentinian in typically heated fashion.
Martinez pushed Malen away before the pair squared up to each other and had to be separated by the referee before things turned any uglier.
The photos above show the angry clash between Malen and Martinez, and the photo below shows that the pair were present for another brawl between the two sides just a few weeks later.
From seemingly being ready to fight, Malen and Martinez could become teammates at United – and will no doubt have each other’s backs if they join forces.
Malen speed and versatility may appeal to Erik ten Hag
We can’t claim to be all that excited about the idea of Malen joining United.
The Dutchman has hit 25 goals and 16 assists in 96 games for Dortmund, failing to replicate his success in the Netherlands.
Malen hasn’t been a nailed-on starter for Dortmund this season, so can he really improve United?
Even when United have signed star players from Dortmund – Sancho, Shinji Kagawa, Henrikh Mkhitaryan – it hasn’t really worked out.
Malen does have two things which could appeal to Erik ten Hag though.
The first is his speed, with Malen possessing serious pace to trouble defences in behind – something Ten Hag would love having also targeted Timo Werner.
The second is that Malen has the versatility to play up front or on the right flank, giving United an attacking threat who can offer an option in two different positions – two areas which have been problematic for United.
Malen could be the man for United, but he would have make a serious step up in order to become a major Premier League force.
