Cologne rejected Brighton’s €30m bid for Said El Mala

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Sport Bild report that Brighton submitted an offer between €25m and €30m plus bonuses to Cologne for Said El Mala last week, which was rejected by the Bundesliga club.

The Premier League outfit showed interest in signing the German talent before he had even kicked a ball in the Bundesliga, with Tony Bloom ready to shell out €15m to sign the youngster after seeing their opening €10m offer rebuffed.

Speaking in December, El Mala confirmed that he would remain in Cologne beyond the winter transfer window.

“When you score a few goals in the Bundesliga, other clubs automatically start calling,” El Mala told reporters. “That’s a nice confirmation for my performance, but I’m fully focused on FC.” When asked whether he will remain at the club beyond, El Mala replied with a simple, “Yes.”

Details behind Brighton’s pursuit of Said El Mala

While the €30m fee is certainly enticing for Cologne, whose record departure was Anthony Modeste (€29m) in 2018/19, managing director Thomas Kessler and his team, per Sport Bild, deliberated the offer before rejecting it.

Although no ‘internal price’ has been set, should El Mala feature for Cologne between now and the remainder of the season, while continuing his excellent form, then it’s possible that the young attacker is a wildcard for Julian Nagelsmann’s World Cup squad, having already been called up to the German national team.

Per the report, Brighton were also ready to offer El Mala a salary of €15m over the next five years.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder