Brighton & Hove Albion could ask for face-to-face talks with Cologne to seal a quick deal for Said El-Mala.
This is according to Sportbild. The German newspaper covered the 19-year-old today and said Brighton have ‘made the move’ to get him.
The Seagulls have been pursuing the forward since last summer. He then pressed to obtain him but met with resistance from Cologne.
Undeterred, he returned in the January transfer window with a renewed effort. Sport Witness covered it extensively at the time.
Earlier this month, they reported that they had made a written offer of around €30m. There was also an offer of 10 times the salary for the player on the table.
brighton will not give up
He was rejected but they are refusing to give up. Instead, several reports have detailed new efforts from Brighton ahead of the summer.
These include a double quote for El-Mala and his brother Malek. Guaranteed €25-26m in transfer fee. Reports in Germany have made it clear that they want to get a deal done before the summer.
Sportbild supports it. According to his knowledge, Brighton is ‘at the forefront’ of trying and ‘taking the initiative’.
They report that the Premier League club are preparing another offer after two rejections, although they do not expect it to be much higher than the €30m bid made in January.
But that would likely also include a request for a meeting between the club’s management.
The Seagulls don’t want to send a series of slightly modified proposals. Instead they would prefer to reach an agreement through substantive negotiations. The sooner they can do so, the better.
The situation is favorable to brighton
Whether Cologne will approve it remains to be seen. He has been feeling the pressure from Brighton for some time now. Sportbild also report that El Mala feels ‘increasingly vindicated’ in his desire to leave.
This happened after some rift with coach Lukas Kwasniok. He is leaving the rising star on the bench, which is not good.
According to the newspaper, this also applies to Brighton. It is not only pressuring El Mala to leave but also ensuring that its price does not rise further.
Perhaps that is why they now want to hold face-to-face talks, to take advantage of the situation and reach an agreement when the competition is not pushing.
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