€35m Brighton bid rejected outright – €50m or no deal, club not panicking

FC Köln have rejected a €35m offer from Brighton and Hove Albion for Said El Mala, insisting that it’s €50m or nothing.

Sky Germany report that Brighton have submitted a €35m offer for the Köln rising star, but the German club wants significantly more.

Brighton offer not enough

According to their information, negotiations between Brighton and FC Köln have now been temporarily halted. It seems neither party is willing to move from their valuations. But the bidding war for the 19-year-old ‘mega talent’ is likely to continue.

Brighton’s latest bid of €35m is the newest multi-Euro attempt for Said El Mala, who has earned rave reviews in his debut season in the Bundesliga.

Brighton have been trying to sign him since last summer or at least get at the front of the queue for the winger’s signature.

Now they’ve lodged a formal bid, but FC Köln consider it to be ‘insufficient’. They have made it clear that their asking price is €50m.

That would be a new record for the German club. Their record sale remains Anthony Modeste’s €35m move to TJ Tianhai in China back in 2017. Now they want to see that record smashed completely.

FC Köln remain calm

Brighton have been the ‘frontrunner’ for El Mala for weeks. However, FC Köln’s management have held back and ‘remained reserved’. That’s now led Brighton to withdraw from the bidding for the time being.

FC Köln, for their part, don’t seem to care. Sky they are ‘demonstratively calm’ as El Mala’s contract runs until 2030 and doesn’t include a release clause. They have no reason or need to sell below the price they want.

The question is whether they can get that €50m. Brighton have shown no willingness to spend it, despite offering Said El Mala 5x his current contract.

Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Tottenham and Newcastle have all been named as potential suitors over the last few months as well. It seems FC Köln want to create a bidding war to ramp up the price. And for now, that means €35m from Brighton simply isn’t enough.