Manchester United and Tottenham have both made an approach to sign Koln winger Said El Mala, according to reports in Germany.
The 19-year-old is regarded as one of the brightest young prospects in German football and has made an excellent start to his first Bundesliga campaign with six goals and two assists in 14 Bundesliga appearances.
Last month, El Mala was rewarded for his form as Julian Nagelsmann called him up to Germany’s national team for the first time, while in the summer, El Mala was a key figure for Germany at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship and ended up being named in the team of the tournament.
According to Sport Bild, United and Tottenham have now contacted Koln through intermediaries to register their interest in El Mala ahead of next summer’s transfer window.
The report claims that United and Spurs have indicated that they would be willing to pay a transfer fee between €30 million (£30.7m) and €40m (£35m).
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However, the Premier League duo are in competition with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, who are also monitoring the midfielder’s progress at Koln.
Earlier this summer, Brighton made an approach to Koln to sign El Mala but their €15m (£13.1m) offer was rejected.
The Bundesliga club are in a strong negotiating position as El Mala’s contract runs until 2030 and he does not have a release clause.
‘Said has a long contract and he doesn’t have a release clause. As things stand today, there’s no reason to even consider it,’ Koln’s sporting director, Thomas Kessler, told Sport1.
‘If a club does come along and we as Koln have to consider whether it’s worth taking this money and reinvesting it to improve the squad overall at the top, then we will think about it at some point.
‘He received a new contract and we increased his salary. Within this contract, Said has the opportunity to be even better paid based on performance, and Koln aresuccessful and we achieve our season goals.’
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