Said El Mala Transfer Hope For Borussia Dortmund Amid Collapsed Premier League Move

Said El Mala’s transfer to Premier League side Brentford looked to be going smoothly, heading towards a €50m move to the West London side. However, the move has since collapsed, and there now remains the possibility of Borussia Dortmund swooping in and landing the teenage sensation.

This is a move Brentford has been working on for some time. They had come to an agreement with FC Koln over a fee, and the fee in question, €50m, would have been a club record deal for Brentford and a club record sale for FC Koln. However, they wanted to set a deadline for when this deal needed to be completed, so they had time to move on to other targets should the deal not proceed. 

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What was holding up the deal, you may ask? Said El Mala’s mother. His mother is also his agent and his primary representative, so no deal is completed unless she approves. And in this case, despite Said El Mala signalling his desire to move to Brentford, she refused to approve the deal before Brentford’s strict deadline; it appears that the deal is now off with Brentford. 

So where does that leave Borussia Dortmund? It provides them with an opportunity, as according to Express Germany, there are a few factors going in Borussia Dortmund’s favour if they wish to try and secure a deal for Said El Mala. 

Firstly, the report states that Said El Mala gets along well with Nico Schlotterbeck, despite links to Schlotterbeck moving away from Borussia Dortmund this summer. As it stands, the Said El Mala and Nico Schlotterbeck friendship is something that goes in Dortmund’s favour.

Borussia Dortmund would also be more likely to pay more in signing-on fees and wages than other clubs, compared to how much they spend on transfer fees. This will be clearly more enticing for Said El Mala and his representatives, as using that logic, he is likely to be paid a sizeable wage for a player of his age and lack of top-level experience. 

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Additionally, the fact that Borussia Dortmund is geographically close to Said El Mala's hometown of Krefeld, and it is understood that his mother wants both him and his brother to be located close to home, ideally. The Champions League factor will also be something that Dortmund could offer that a club like Brentford couldn’t. 

Borussia Dortmund have an established reputation of being able to bring in young talent, nurture, develop and give them the platform in order for them to achieve their potential, so that they can sell them on later down the line. However, Borussia Dortmund don’t usually spend such a high amount on these young, promising players; instead, they usually pay quite nominal fees in order to be able to make a significant profit in the years after initial purchase. 

Therefore, while the prospect of signing Said El Mala seems like a no-brainer for Borussia Dortmund on a footballing level, the high transfer fee needed to secure the signing may just force Borussia Dortmund to look elsewhere.