Talks “ongoing” as club keen to sell Man United & Chelsea transfer target quickly
FC Koln are reportedly keen to offload Said El Mala quickly this summer and avoid a protracted transfer saga as Premier League clubs show an interest.
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As we recently reported, El Mala is a top target for Brighton and there’s the sense that they’re frontrunners in this potential deal.
However, we’re also aware of interest from other Premier League clubs, including Manchester United and Chelsea, with Florian Plettenberg now posting a new update.
See below as the Sky Germany journalist also says Brighton are in a strong position for El Mala, but that talks with other English clubs are also ongoing…
?? 1. FC Köln are pushing for a quick sale of Said El Mala, preferably to the Premier League. There is no fixed asking price, but internally they are convinced that “€40 million will not be enough”. #Effzeh
Brighton are seriously interested, offers were made but at that… pic.twitter.com/djAnhAPQb9
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) April 3, 2026
“FC Koln are pushing for a quick sale of Said El Mala, preferably to the Premier League,” Plettenberg said. “There is no fixed asking price, but internally they are convinced that “€40 million will not be enough”. #Effzeh
“Brighton are seriously interested, offers were made but at that price they are currently out. Talks with other English clubs are ongoing. No agreements or final decisions have been made yet.”
Said El Mala transfer to the Premier League looks likely
It seems Koln are eager to cash in on El Mala, and that they view selling to a Premier League club as the best way for them to make good money from this sale.
The highly-rated 19-year-old looks like he could have a fine career ahead of him, and although some Koln fans would probably rather see him stay, he’s not always been an automatic starter this season anyway.
It will be interesting to see if El Mala accepts the chance to join someone like Brighton, who could be an ideal stepping stone for him at this stage of his career, or if he favours going for someone like Man Utd or Chelsea straight away.
Said El Mala to Brighton Transfer Fit rating
Needless to say, this looks like a huge opportunity for Brighton to do more smart business that could help them secure a hugely profitable sale in the future.
| Said El Mala | TOTAL SCORE: 18/25 |
| Transfer fee | **** |
| Performance | **** |
| Achievements | ** |
| Career phase | **** |
| Squad need | **** |
For that reason, see the table above as we’ve given the deal a high score of 18/25 using our Transfer Fit rating system, and read more here about how we calculate these.
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