Said El Mala
Said El Mala
A winger, like Said El Mala, who has just told one big German club no does not disappear from lists. He moves down them. January is when those lists get opened again.
Contract length is the first obstacle. A shirt number is the second. Neither stops scouts sitting in the same seats they used last winter.
The left side at a title-winning club is still short of a settled starter. That is the only reason a 20-year-old in Cologne stays relevant in north London.
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Said El Mala is the Köln forward Arsenal and Tottenham were both reported to be monitoring at the start of 2026. He was put on a list that also included Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, with a fee talked about at around £35million while his deal ran to 2030.
The picture has changed since then. In August he extended with Köln until 2031 and took the No.10 shirt last worn by Lukas Podolski. Dortmund walked away after failing to agree a package of about €50million. Brentford had a similar-sized bid rejected. El Mala stayed.
We understand Arsenal have been heavily scouting the 20-year-old at the beginning of this season. The Gunners have even opened talks with the players’ camp to enquire about a move ahead of the January transfer window.
“I feel a huge amount of trust and appreciation here. That’s why I’m staying – I want to have a great season with FC and our fans, and I’ll give it my all, not least because I know what it means to wear the No. 10,” he said when the new contract was announced.
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His agent, Martin Comona, had already drawn a line last winter: “A change is not an issue for Said at the moment.”
The football is why clubs have not deleted the file. Last season he scored 13 Bundesliga goals and added five assists in 34 games after joining from Viktoria Köln. He is about 6ft 2in, used mainly from the left, and has Germany under-21 caps, with a brief look-in around the senior squad.
Arsenal’s own left side is the context for any fresh look. Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson left in the summer. Christos Tzolis arrived. Eberechi Eze has been used there. Vinicius Junior was “on the table” and stayed in Madrid. Kevin Schade is one Premier League name Brentford are trying to tie down.
A January move would need Köln to sell a player they have just made their No.10, and El Mala to reverse a decision he made eight weeks ago. That is a high bar. Arteta’s January habit, as Fabrizio Romano has described it, is to wait unless the right name appears.
Scouting is not a bid. It is watching whether the form that produced 13 league goals holds, and whether the 2031 contract is as firm in January as it sounded in August. Until Köln name a price they will accept, Said El Mala is a monitored option on a crowded left-wing shortlist, not a deal in motion.
Mikel Arteta - Arsenal
Mikel Arteta - Arsenal
Zohran Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani