Brighton and Hove Albion are likely to ask Cologne for face-to-face talks to get a deal for Said El-Mala done early.
That’s according to SportBILD. The German newspaper cover the 19-year-old today and Brighton ‘taking the initiative’ to get him.
The Seagulls have been chasing the forward since last summer. They pushed to get him then but faced resistance from Cologne.
Unperturbed, they returned with a renewed effort in the January transfer window. Sport Witness covered that extensively at the time.
Earlier this month, they explained that they had made a written offer worth around €30m. There was also a 10x wage offer on the table for the player.
Brighton won’t give up
That was rejected but they’re refusing to give up. Instead, several reports since have detailed Brighton’s renewed efforts ahead of the summer.
Those include a double bid for El-Mala and his brother, Malek, and €25-26m guaranteed in transfer fees. Reports in Germany have made it clear that they want the deal done before the summer.
SportBILD back this up. According to their information, Brighton are ‘furthest along’ in the pursuit and ‘taking the initiative’.
They report that the Premier League club are preparing another offer after two rejections, though they do not expect it to be significantly higher than the €30m bid made in January.
But it will likely be accompanied by a request for a meeting between the club’s management.
The Seagulls simply don’t want to send out a series of slightly modified offers. They would instead prefer to reach an agreement through concrete negotiations. The quicker they can do so, the better.
Situation suits Brighton
Whether Cologne will sanction that, remains to be seen. They’ve been feeling the pressure from Brighton for a while. SportBILD also report that El Mala feels ‘increasingly vindicated’ in his desire to leave.
That comes after something of a falling out with coach Lukas Kwasniok. He’s been leaving the rising star on the bench, which hasn’t gone down well.
That, according to the newspaper, also suits Brighton. It’s not only pushing El Mala to leave but also ensuring his price doesn’t rise further.
Perhaps that is why they now wants face to face talks, to take advantage of the situation and wrap up a deal while the competition isn’t pushing.