Club ready to re-open talks with Chelsea over €50m attacker transfer | OneFootball

Chelsea could reportedly still have a chance of beating Brighton to the potential transfer of FC Koln forward Said El Mala.

The talented young German attacker looks like an exciting prospect with a big future ahead of him, and it could be that we’ll be seeing him in the Premier League soon.

According to Christian Falk in his CF Bayern Insider column, Brighton have been working on signing El Mala, but they might struggle to meet Koln’s demands for the 19-year-old.

This could allow Chelsea back into the mix, according to Falk, who says El Mala could cost around €50m.

Chelsea given Said El Mala transfer boost

Discussing El Mala’s future, Falk made it clear that Brighton are still leading the race for his signature, though nothing is done yet and that means Chelsea can’t be ruled out.

“It is TRUE: Brighton are in the lead for Said El Mala,” Falk said. “But it could be that other interested clubs still have a chance in this race, like Newcastle and Chelsea.

“That’s because the Brighton offer was about €35m plus €4m in add-ons, and Cologne want €50m. If they don’t get this money, perhaps they’ll be open to talking with Chelsea again. This could happen.

“At the moment, the way is clear – El Mala looks very likely to be playing Premier League football next season. Now we have to see whether he ends up at Brighton, which is the current plan, or if FC Köln say it won’t work because of the money on the table.”

Chelsea could do with changing things up in attack

CFC would surely do well to land a talent like El Mala to give them something a bit different in attack, with some of their recent signings struggling.

There could well be doubts about the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens, who have not had anywhere near the kind of impact that the club will have hoped.

El Mala could be an upgrade, and it will be interesting to see if Chelsea can get there ahead of Brighton, though even that might point towards a future move for the west London giants given how much those two clubs have done business in recent times.