標籤: chief

FC Köln sporting director Thomas Kessler has hit back at Said El Mala’s claims chelsea Has been constantly linked with the 19-year-old.

Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Report Today on the Koln Star, which also includes comments from Kessler, who appears to be frustrated by the constant transfer rumours.

Chelsea’s efforts lead to disappointment

Reports over the past few weeks have repeatedly linked Chelsea with a move for Saeed El Mala. They have come from both Germany and England.

A report from Germany last month The Blues were said to have held concrete talks about signing El Mala this summer.

A week later a second report came out in which it was emphasized that Chelsea were ready to break the asking price To secure El Mala’s signature before the competition. However, Kessler insists that this is not the case.

“We maintain a very trusting and close relationship with Said and his family,” he said.

“At the moment, we have not received any offers from other clubs that we need to seriously consider. The player has also not expressed any desire to engage in discussions with other clubs.”

He then went on to dismiss suggestions that El Mala was being positioned for a Premier League switch:

He added, “Said has made it abundantly clear that his entire focus is currently on FC Köln and his development over the season.”

no agent mandate

Reports in England had suggested that ‘super-agent’ Ali Barat was working on behalf of Koln to bring Saeed El Mala to the Premier League market.

Barat has strong links to England and indeed Chelsea. He negotiated Nicholas Jackson’s move from Stamford Bridge to Bayern Munich last summer.

However, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reports that this is not the case. He says club sources insist that Colon has not authorized Barrat or any other intermediary to represent him in a potential sale.

The German side is refusing to rush into the summer narrative in any way. Kessler is making that point very clear.

“The ball is in 1. FC Köln’s court. Saeed is under contract with us until 2030,” he concluded.

Atletico Madrid director of professional football Matteo Alemany has insisted that Tottenham will remain a “top-class team” despite their Premier League struggles.

Mundo Deportivo covered Alemany’s comments today following the Champions League draw which pitted the two sides against each other.

Tottenham travel to Wanda Metropolitano on March 10^th For the first leg of their last 16 double header. They will then host Atlético in the second leg a week later.

It is unclear how much they will focus on the game at that time. For now, their focus is on Premier League survival.

Tottenham impress in Europe

They currently sit 16^th In the table, only four points out of the relegation zone. They are yet to win a single in the Premier League in 2026 and have picked up just two points from their last 15. Their last win in the league came on 15 December^th.

However, interestingly, they have made an impact in Europe. They finished the league stage in great form, scoring 4 points^th Placed in the overall table to qualify directly for the last 16. This made them the fourth highest seed behind only Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

Their only defeat in the competition this season came at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in November. And the Alemany are focused on that form rather than what’s happening in the Premier League.

“Any opponent would have been extremely difficult,” he said.

“You have to look at their European record, which has been fantastic. A top-class team, a Premier League favourite, whatever the draw, it was going to be tough. The important thing is that we focus on our performances.”

atlético calendar

His own team faces a tough calendar with a Champions League clash with Tottenham after taking on Barcelona in the Copa del Rey a week ago.

There are also La Liga commitments, making life more difficult as they face ‘abridged’ Tuesday-Tuesday fixtures. However, Alemany is not worried.

“We know we are in the highest level of competition, facing the highest level of opponents and difficulty,” he said.

“It depends on the opponent, on their ability to rotate their team in the domestic league. Whatever happens, we can’t change it; we will accept it and adapt.”

La Liga president Javier Tebas has taken aim at Everton and Aston Villa in his continued complaints about Premier League spending.

Mundo Deportivo covered La Liga Supreme’s comments today. And it looks like Everton and Aston Villa are on target this time.

Tebas regularly complains about the Premier League’s spending power compared to La Liga. It is a constant point of complaint for the Spanish chief, who believes English clubs are being allowed to operate unfairly.

The complaints persist despite changes to spending rules this summer.

PSR abandoned

The Premier League is abandoning its old PSR model to adopt a more UEFA-compliant model. Under the current system, clubs cannot make a loss of more than £105m over a three-year period.

This will be deemed obsolete and replaced by rules that allow clubs to spend up to 85% of their revenue on transfers, wages and agent fees.

The new rules will also prevent actions by clubs such as selling assets such as hotels and women’s teams to circumvent financial rules.

Everton and Aston Villa have both used it in recent years. To make room for transfer spending, Everton sold Everton Women to Roundhouse Capital Holdings in July 2025. Aston Villa have sold their women’s team to a parent holding company in a deal reportedly worth £55m in early 2025.

Chelsea’s deal was even bigger, reportedly worth around £200 million. This allowed them to turn a large loss into a pre-tax profit.

Everton and Aston Villa in the firing line

However, he seems to have avoided the wrath of Tebas. Instead, he took aim at Everton and Aston Villa in his comments at a press conference in London.

“We’re fooling ourselves,” He said.

“It is commendable that we are demanding Financial Fair Play rules. But the turnover of English football, excluding transfers, is twice that of the Spanish League and twice that of the Bundesliga, which is next in line.

“With normal financial fair play, its investment potential will always be double. We know we cannot compete financially with the Premier League.

“We can sign better players, hire better coaches, but we can’t compete. The Premier League alone, with normal financial fair play, is enough to be number one by a wide margin.”