Donyell Malen proving Aston Villa wrong as Roma star matches Francesco Totti record

Former Aston Villa forward Donyell Malen is continuing to thrive at Roma, with the Italian media heaping praise on the Dutchman following another decisive Serie A performance.

Malen scored again as Roma beat Torino 2-0, taking his tally to six goals this season and maintaining the impressive form he has shown since initially leaving Villa for the Italian capital on loan in January.

His latest goal has also placed the 27-year-old alongside Roma legend Francesco Totti and Pedro Manfredini in the club’s history books.

Malen is only the third Roma player to score more than five goals across the opening four matches of a season.

Malen earned widespread praise for his performance against Torino.

Eurosport awarded him a 7/10 after he recovered from an early missed header to score with what the outlet described as “fire in his eyes”. He also came close with an audacious lob before surprisingly being substituted early in the second half.

Calciomercato delivered an even clearer assessment with the headline: “Malen always scores.”

The Italian outlet noted that the former Villa attacker initially appeared set for a frustrating evening. He had efforts blocked, headed narrowly over and saw another goal disallowed before eventually forcing home Roma’s opener.

Roma Today also gave Malen a 7/10, highlighting the determination behind his finish as he managed to score while on the ground.

Il Romanista went higher with a 7.5 and believes an increasingly dangerous partnership is developing between Malen and Paulo Dybala.

The consistency is particularly significant because this is no short-term burst of form. Malen has continued producing since arriving at Roma in January and is now carrying that momentum into his first full season with the club.

Given his performances in Italy, Aston Villa's decision to allow Malen to leave is increasingly open to question.

The Netherlands international initially joined Roma on loan in January with an option to buy, which subsequently resulted in his permanent departure from Villa.

Roma wanted Malen to provide goals and attacking threat, and he is delivering precisely that.

The important point is that his current run cannot simply be dismissed as a few strong performances at the beginning of a new season. Malen has been building momentum since his January arrival and appears increasingly comfortable within Gian Piero Gasperini's attacking setup.

From Villa's perspective, that naturally raises questions over whether they could have extracted more from him.

Different tactical demands and environments can transform a player's output, so Malen's Roma success does not automatically mean he would have produced identical numbers had he remained in England.

But when a player leaves, immediately finds a system suited to his strengths and continues scoring months later, it inevitably makes the selling club's decision look less convincing.

Roma, meanwhile, appear to have acquired an attacker entering the prime years of his career who is doing exactly what they recruited him to do.

The challenge for Malen is now maintaining this remarkable scoring rate over a full season.

His start suggests Roma's decision to bring him in from Aston Villa is paying off, while every goal will inevitably intensify questions over Villa's decision to let him leave.

If Malen continues producing at anything close to his current level, what initially looked like a successful move for Roma could increasingly be viewed as a significant missed opportunity for Aston Villa.