‘Extraordinary’ Malen has surpassed all expectations at Roma, says Gasperini

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Donyell Malen has had an “extraordinary” impact and surpassed all expectations since arriving at Roma, head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has declared.

Roma have started the Serie A season with three straight wins, picking up where they left off at the end of 2025-26 after finishing strongly to snatch Champions League qualification.

They will look to maintain their perfect start away to Torino on Monday, when Malen will hope to continue his hot streak in front of goal.

Having joined from Aston Villa in January, initially on loan, Malen has scored 19 goals in 21 Serie A appearances – at least seven more than any other player has netted this calendar year (Como’s Tasos Douvikas has 12).

Malen started the 2026-27 campaign with a hat-trick against Fiorentina, then helped himself to a brace at Lecce on matchday two, though he was kept quiet in Roma’s comeback win over Atalanta last time out in the competition.

And Gasperini is in awe of his numbers, saying: “It is extraordinary, the statistics around Malen, especially for his sheer consistency. 

“I knew that signing Malen would be an important step for us, but he’s gone well beyond any expectations.”

Malen did not find the net in Roma’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Fenerbahce on Thursday. Paulo Dybala played the duration of that match, having also started Roma’s first three league games and provided four assists in them.

There had been speculation that Dybala could be rested in Turin, but Gasperini says the Argentine will always be one of the first names on his teamsheet when available. 

“If Dybala is fit, then he’ll always play, without doubt. If he needs to rest, then it’s right that he is given time,” Gasperini said.

“I don’t like talking about hierarchies of who starts, as that’s not fair to players who are giving their all. 

“That’s not how it works with Champions League teams, because it’s not about promoting or dropping players, and that just turns it into pointless controversy.”

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) September 12, 2026

Should Dybala provide another assist on Monday, he would break the record for most assists in the first four matchdays of a Serie A season (since Opta data collection began in 2004-05 – four other players have four assists in the first four games of a campaign).

And despite Roma’s flying start this season, Gasperini feels there is still more to come.

“I am satisfied with the mentality of the team, and we’re just starting to get into shape,” he said.

“We need a great performance against Torino and must forget the last match. Everyone is reliable; it’s about seeing how everyone is doing from one game to the next. 

“It’s all about looking forward, as there is no time in modern football. We do have to be more focused on avoiding goals defensively, though.”

Mandragora has been involved in two goals in his last three home appearances against Roma in Serie A (one goal, one assist). 

He scored against Fiorentina last time out, five years and 137 days after his previous goal for them (April 21st 2021, against Bologna during a loan spell), but he has never scored in consecutive appearances in the competition.

Malen made his Serie A debut and scored his first goal in the competition away to Torino in January.

And he could now become just the third player in Roma’s history to score more than five goals in the Giallorossi’s first four Serie A games of a season, after Pedro Manfredini in 1960-61 (seven) and Francesco Totti in 2001-02 (six).

Roma have won 14 of their last 19 Serie A matches against Torino (D2 L3). 

Since 2017, they have not won more games against any other opponent in the competition (also 14 against Udinese).

Torino have also failed to score in six of their last nine home league games against Roma, losing seven of those contests (D1 L1).

And with Torino failing to keep a clean sheet in their last eight Serie A matches, only winning twice in that sequence (D2 L4), the in-form Giallorossi are clear favourites. 

Roma have won their last eight Serie A matches across the end of last season (five) and the start of the current campaign (three).

They have only had a longer winning streak in the competition on three occasions, with 11 consecutive wins between December 2005 and February 2006, 11 between May and October 2013, and nine between March and April 2014.

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