Donyell Malen’s injury a setback ahead of crucial season with Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund’s Donyell Malen is currently suffering from muscular problems during a crucial period of pre-season, which could be a blow to the Dutchman’s preparations for next season.
Donyell Malen has been a Borussia Dortmund player for an entire season now, with the Dutchman coming in as a replacement for the attacking threat that Jadon Sancho offered prior to his transfer to Manchester United. While Malen wasn’t expected to be a like for like replacement (they are fundamentally different players), the hope was that his impact would be far greater than it has been so far.
Over the course of his first season, Malen’s overall output in the Bundesliga culminated to 5 goals and 6 assists. He also scored an additional 4 goals in European competitions for his new club, three in the Champions League and one in the Europa League. While the numbers aren’t particularly terrible, they are a far cry from the impact we know he is capable of producing.
Aside from the statistics, Malen’s overall gameplay did not seem comfortable over the course of the entire season. He had patches of good form but had instances where he was not on the same wavelength as his teammates.
It is because of this that Malen’s injury could be a costly one – preseason is generally the time to start building team chemistry for the upcoming season. Malen’s current muscular issues don’t allow for a general prognosis regarding his return, but BVB are doing their best to get the Dutchman back in training by the end of this coming week in an effort to minimize the impact this layoff may have on preparations.
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Malen is set to have a very big year with Die Schwarzgelben. The expectation will be that after having spent a year at the club, he will be ready to perform at the level that the club saw from him when he played for PSV Eindhoven. The impetus to perform will be even greater now that Erling Haaland has departed the club, Malen will feature in a new look front line with newcomers Sébastien Haller and Karim Adeyemi. The trio will need time to get used to each other, and the longer Malen suffers from these muscular problems, the less time Edin Terzić will have to get his attackers on the same page.