These days, football clubs race to sign young talent as soon as possible. No longer does clubs wait to see if a player can develop for a year or two at a lower level before snapping them up, as those players’ price tags increase exponentially once they start to demonstrate their talent. The goal is always to sign them before they start to shine. Rasenballsport Leipzig, for example, signed rising Bundesliga star Yan Diomande for €20 million after he played just 500 minutes in La Liga.
FC Köln provide
another good example of this with their approach to signing youngster Saïd El Mala. After under 500 minutes in the 3. Liga for Viktoria Köln, Der Effzeh saw enough to sign him up in 2024 and loaned him back out to his previous club.
But again, clubs came racing in to get the youngster. Before El Mala played a single minute of first team football for Köln-or even trained a single time with the team- Brighton FC came charging in, offering over €20 million for a player who had not played at a higher level than the third division of German football. It is remarkable. Clearly, their scouting tools had identified El Mala as a high potential player and they were willing to take the risk and sign him before he showed what he could do on the big stage. Köln ended up rejecting the offer. What is more crazy? A club offering over €20 million for a player with no first division experience or a club that rejects it?
Still, both clubs have seen their risky decisions justified as El Mala has had a very strong first season at Köln to date. With some brilliant individual moments, racking up 10 combined goals and assists at the time of writing, the young winger has become an extremely valuable asset and has even caught the eye of Germany’s biggest club, Bayern Munich.
Still, Brighton are not giving up. Florian Plettenberg reports that the Premier League club approached Köln again for their bright youngster, upping their bid for the Bayetn target:
Brighton are keeping an eye on Said El Mala as a dream summer target and submitted a written offer for the 19 y/o winger in January. Brighton offered up to €30 million for the shooting star. Köln boss Thomas Kessler rejected, as El Mala is considered too important in their fight to avoid relegation. Contract until 2030; no release clause. Brighton remain keen on a move in the summer. FC Bayern still monitoring him as a potential back-up option for Luis Diaz.
Who will sign El Mala? And how pricey will his next move be? If neither €20 million or €30 million are enough, just how much will the German youngster go for in this crazy market?
