Said El-Mala
Brighton and Hove Albion’s current contract offer to Said El Mala is five times what he currently earns in Cologne.
Express report that Brighton have put their money where their mouth is in their attempts to lure El Mala to the club this summer.
5x salary offer
The newspaper explains that while Said El Mala and his mother, Sabrina, who is now his agent, are insisting they don’t want to listen to offers, that hasn’t stopped them coming in.
The 19-year-old wants to focus on finishing the season strongly. But that hasn’t stopped the offers from coming in. Brighton are long-term admirers and have been trying to get him since last summer.
Sport Witness have covered their efforts extensively, including efforts to get talks going being repeatedly blocked.
Express report they are the ones making ‘the most concerted effort’. Talks are reportedly underway behind the scenes. The Seagulls are ‘dangling a salary’ of €4-5.2m, in the first year alone, depending on performance and playing time.
Over a five-year deal that would earn the youngster over €30m in the coming years. The newspaper questions ‘who would possibly resist’ such an offer.
Particularly when, in comparison, his current deal is just under €1m. That’s actually the improved figure Cologne decided to pay the youngster when recently extending his deal until 2030. So Brighton are offering an increase of 5x at the top end.
President gets ‘combative’
Cologne are aware of the interest, but not of any offers being made as yet. Publicly, they are now getting ‘combative’ about the rumours.
President Jörn Stobbe recently appeared on the real estate podcast L’Immo and adopted an ‘extremely combative’ tone when it was suggested a sale was inevitable this summer.
“We can offer him an environment where he can develop beautifully,” Geissblog report him saying.
“He is a very young player, highly talented, and he has already proven that. Naturally, we will make him an offer that leverages the environment we provide. Not only in financial terms, but in financial terms as well.
“He has a long-term contract that runs for quite a while. We’d be pretty stupid to simply let such a fantastic player leave prematurely.”
Geissblog also report that Cologne are under no pressure to sell this summer. There is even now talk of a potential sale with an immediate loan back for next season.
Brighton money on the table
Whether Brighton would sanction such a deal, remains to be seen. They have done similar deals with plenty other players in the past.
Most of those have returned and played for the Seagulls first-team after such loans. They are a club that is willing to wait before getting a player, paying big to secure them early ahead of any competition.
For now, it seems the focus is on the money. They’ve already gone big in their offers to Said El Mala, offering figures that will undoubtedly turn the forward’s head.