Manchester City are set to launch a bid for one of Germany’s most exciting prospects as they look to bolster their Premier League title bid.
Pep Guardiola’s side sit just two points behind league leaders Arsenal after 16 games, as they look to regain the title after a disappointing 2024/25 campaign.
For the most part they’ve been impressive this season, but will look to add some quality in January to really push the Gunners for the title.
Manchester City told price they must pay for German wonderkid
In the summer, Manchester City brought in seven new faces, with some having more success than others.
Gianluigi Donnarumma has continued his impressive form which saw him win the Champions League with PSG, while Rayan Cherki has impressed when fit. Others such as Tijani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri have shown flashes of what they’re capable of, but have failed to nail down starting spots.
Therefore, Guardiola and Manchester City’s board are looking to add some depth to their squad to help them sustain efforts across all the competitions they are involved in.
One of the players being considered is FC Köln’s 19-year-old winger Said El Mala, ranked at no.19 in FourFourTwo's list of the best left-wingers in the world right now.
SportsWitness have long reported on Manchester City’s interest in the youngster, who has managed six goals in the Bundesliga this season, but they will face stiff competition if they are serious about signing him.
FourFourTwo understand that Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona are also interested in signing El Mala.
Brighton made an attempt to sign him in the summer seeing their €20 million bid refused, and Koln’s sporting director Thomas Kessler is adamant that he will not be sold this January.
Speaking on Sport1 he said: “I can be brief: No! Said has a long-term contract and he doesn’t have a release clause. As things stand today, there’s no reason to even consider it.”
However, he did admit that if a huge offer came in, they would find it difficult to refuse.
“If a club does come along and we, as Köln, have to consider whether it’s worthwhile to take this money now and reinvest it to improve the squad overall at the top level, then we will consider it at some point,” he said.
Bild believe that an offer in the region of €50-60 million would be enough to tempt Koln to part ways with their star player.
When you look at Manchester City’s squad, perhaps the weakest area is the wingers, so adding quality in depth would be a good idea in FourFourTwo’s eyes.
El Mala is valued at €18 million according to Transfermarkt. Manchester City are next in action in the Carabao Cup against Brentford.
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