“Great optimism” at Borussia Dortmund: transfer of Said El Mala “in the coming days”? | Goal.com

Published on 27 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 3 minutes

As kicker reports in its latest piece, the sought-after striker is "leaning" towards a move to Borussia Dortmund. The club are also said to already be aware of El Mala's stance, which means Dortmund do not currently feel under any pressure in the negotiations.

Later, Bild followed that up by reporting that El Mala had made it clear in talks with Borussia Dortmund that he could well imagine a move to Dortmund. According to the report, the Germany Under-21 international is now only waiting for the two clubs to reach an agreement so he can sign a five-year contract until 2031 with the Black and Yellows. "There is great optimism at Borussia Dortmund that the deal will get over the line in the coming days," the report says.

In recent days, it has been reported several times that Borussia Dortmund had submitted an initial offer in Cologne, but that it was well below the alleged overall package of €50 million being demanded.

According to Geissblog, Dortmund's offer and approach even caused major annoyance at Cologne. According to the report, the club was "not in agreement with the way Dortmund are said to have tried to influence the player in order to make a move more likely", it says verbatim. As a consequence, those at the Geißbockheim internally agreed to break off all negotiations with Borussia immediately.

Sky reported a package with a base fee of €26 million as well as up to €16 million in bonus payments. However, only half of that was said to have been realistically achievable. The alleged conditions set by Borussia Dortmund were that El Mala be voted player of the season and finish as top scorer. A Ballon d'Or nomination was also supposed to bring Cologne millions.

BILD wrote of a fixed €34 million plus €6 million in bonuses. According to information from kicker, the bid was also said to have included a fixed sum of more than €30 million, but the overall package still did not come close to the figure Cologne wanted. Borussia Dortmund sporting director Ole Book described the numbers doing the rounds over the weekend during the friendly defeat to Fortuna Düsseldorf (1-2) as "a wealth of false information".

Although Borussia Dortmund and Book are presenting themselves as relaxed and confident, it is by no means certain that the Black and Yellows will get the deal done. Roma are said to be prepared to spend significantly more than €40 million on the left winger. From the Bundesliga, however, there appears to be less danger. RB Leipzig have been credited with interest, but the rivals are also said not to be willing to meet the current financial terms.

Meanwhile, according to kicker , El Mala still has "all options on the table". The youngster can apparently still imagine staying in Cologne. Sporting director Thomas Kessler had already made it clear weeks ago that the 19-year-old would also play for the Domstadt club next season. At the start of training, Kessler said there had been one or two offers, "but it did not lead to the transfer. That is why I am firmly convinced that he will play for FC this season."

El Mala's future has been the subject of speculation for months, although the right-footer is still under contract in Cologne until 2030. An offer from Brentford FC is said to have already been accepted by Cologne at the start of the transfer window, but El Mala himself reportedly turned the move down.

The breakout star featured in all 34 matches last Bundesliga season and recorded 13 goals and five assists. Despite his strong debut season in the German top flight, former Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann did not include him in the World Cup squad.

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