What a busy January transfer window it was for Aston Villa. Unai Emery’s side brought in five new players to help strengthen the squad ahead of their top-four push and Champions League round-of-16 clash.

Perhaps the most prominent name they signed was Marcus Rashford. The Englishman joined on loan from Manchester United until the end of the season and will be looking to recapture his best form at Villa Park.

Marco Asensio, formerly of Real Madrid, also made a temporary switch to the Villans from Paris Saint-Germain, as did Chelsea centre-back Axel Disasi.

There were also two permanent signings for Villa. One of those was Spanish right-back Andres Garcia, and the other was attacker Donyell Malen.

Why Villa signed Malen

25-year-old Dutch attacker Malen made the move to Villa Park from German side Borussia Dortmund. He cost the West Midlands side £19m up front, with a further £2.5m in potential add-ons.

So far, the former Dortmund star has played two games for Villa. He was on the bench for the 2-2 draw away to Arsenal, played 25 minutes at home against West Ham United and 45 minutes away to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Slowly, he is building up his match fitness.

For Dortmund, Malen went through some impressive purple patches of form. He played 132 times for the club, scoring 39 goals and grabbing 20 assists. Perhaps his finest moment in that famous yellow shirt was a goal and assist away to Real Madrid in the 2024/25 Champions League. Although his side took a 2-0 lead thanks to Malen, they ran out 5-2 losers.

A big call was made this week from Emery, who decided not to include Malen and Garcia in Villa’s Champions League squad for the knockout phase. Instead, the new loanees have all been registered, with only three changes available.

This must surely be frustrating for Malen, given he was one of the few permanent signings at Villa Park in January. He was a big investment last month, so to miss out might be a surprise. However, the Villa squad is still packed with talent, including someone worth far more than the attacker.

The Villa star worth more than Malen

The player in question here is Villans academy graduate Jacob Ramsey. The Birmingham-born star has been vital under Unai Emery, having made a big impact in claret and blue so far in the 2024/25 campaign.

This term, boyhood Villans player Ramsey has played 25 games across all competitions, scoring twice and grabbing four assists. Arguably his biggest moment of the season came on his Champions League debut when he scored away to Young Boys.

Villa manager Emery has always spoken highly of Ramsey. Last summer, when the midfielder was linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, the Spaniard said the Villans star “is a very important player” for his side.

Indeed, Ramsey has an impressive record under Emery. In 69 appearances with the Spaniard at the helm, he has found the back of the net 8 times and registered 13 assists. Injuries have affected him in that time, but there is no doubt Emery has got the best out of him.

Stat

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

Games

24

21

24

Minutes

1,863

1,068

1,320

Goals

5

1

2

Assists

7

2

4

With all that in mind, it might not be a surprise to hear the Villans academy star is valued at £42.3m according to Football Transfers. That is almost double the amount they paid for Malen, and marks an extraordinary feat for Ramsey given he has never moved clubs, and thus he has never had a transfer fee.

Described as a “magic” player by football statistician Statman Dave, Villa will surely be proud of everything Ramsey has achieved at the club so far. They will no doubt be hoping he can continue that imperious form he has shown under Emery, and that his value will increase, even if he never leaves the club.