“The hope is” – Chelsea lead the race for 16 g/a teenager valued at €50m according to transfer expert

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·1 Mei 2026

“The hope is” – Chelsea lead the race for 16 g/a teenager valued at €50m according to transfer expert

Chelsea are now leading the race to sign Cologne winger Said El Mala according to Bundesliga expert Christian Falk.

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Having had a quiet January the Blues are expected to be busy this summer, with a number of areas in the squad needing to be addressed.

Chelsea are said to still be in the market for a centre back, whilst they reportedly want to add another midfielder and attacker.

Chelsea lead the race for Said El Mala

Co-owner Behdad Eghbali has said the model will be tweaked this summer, and it’s been reported Chelsea are prepared to add more experienced players.

However, the Blues won’t abandon their heavily youth orientated recruitment policy, and it’s likely a number of young talents will arrive at Stamford Bridge this summer.

One such youngster could be El Mala, who the Blues have previously been linked with, and the 19-year-old is expected to leave Cologne this summer.

Brighton were thought to be leading the race for the German, but Falk has now provided an update on the situation.

“There’s another club the FC Köln star is interested in, and this is Chelsea,” he told Bayern Insider.

“This is now the club that has their eye on El Mala. Cologne demand €50m [£43.1m]. Brighton would have been prepared to pay €35m, which was not enough for FC Köln.

“Of course, for El Mala, the move would have been nice; he’s earning about €1.5m at Cologne and Brighton offered €4m.

“But now, there’s a question: Is there a club out there prepared to pay €50m? The hope is that’s Chelsea.

“They are interested in the player, but if they’ll pay so much for a German talent remains to be seen, we don’t yet know!”

El Mala has scored 11 goals and registered five assists in 33 appearances in all competitions, and is predominantly a left winger.

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