El Mala to Dortmund? BVB star makes clear statement | OneFootball

Said El Mala remains firmly on Borussia Dortmund’s radar. A BVB star has now publicly raved about Cologne’s breakout talent.

Borussia Dortmund have been working intensively for weeks on a possible move for Said El Mala. Now BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel has spoken unusually openly about the 19-year-old breakout star of 1. FC Köln – making it clear that he would like to see the winger in Dortmund. “He has speed, a good finish, and is good one-on-one,” Kobel told Sky Sport about El Mala. The Swiss international goalkeeper added: “Those are all qualities I really like to have in the team.”

With that, Kobel has been far more specific than Dortmund’s management. BVB managing director Lars Ricken had recently remained cautious and pointed out that El Mala is still under contract with 1. FC Köln. Out of respect for the other club, he did not want to comment further in public on the transfer saga.

Behind the scenes, however, Dortmund are reportedly still working on a deal. Several BVB offers are said to have fallen short of Cologne’s expectations so far. According to media reports, Dortmund could now be preparing a bid worth 50 million euros plus possible bonus payments. Cologne had recently insisted on a fee in that range.

BVB continue to push for Said El Mala

FC also hold a strong negotiating position because of the long-term contract situation. El Mala only extended his deal in July 2025 until 30 June 2030. There is reportedly no release clause. The youngster’s high demand is mainly down to his strong performances. In his first Bundesliga season, El Mala scored 13 goals and set up another five. Even so, he just narrowly missed out on a place in Germany’s World Cup squad.

Photo: IMAGO

Kobel, meanwhile, is not only impressed by El Mala. BVB new signing Konstantinos Karetsas, who is said to have arrived from KRC Genk for around 30 million euros, has already made an impression on the goalkeeper as well. “You can see pretty quickly that he’s an extremely brilliant footballer and that he really has enormous quality on the ball,” Kobel enthused.

Whether El Mala will line up alongside Karetsas for BVB in the future will now likely depend above all on whether Dortmund are willing to meet Cologne’s high financial demands.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.