Köln announced on 20 August that Said El Mala had renewed through 2031 and would take the number ten shirt. The official statement confirmed he would remain with the club for the coming season. This updates the summer reporting about Borussia Dortmund’s attempts to sign the forward.
Get German Football News had carried different stages of that pursuit. One report, citing Sky Germany, said a €48m offer plus €2m and €5m in bonuses was considered acceptable to Köln. Another described a rejected €37m-plus-€8m package and uncertainty over whether a new bonus structure would meet Köln’s demands.
Almost Signed analysis: the signed renewal resolves the outcome, but does not retroactively prove that every reported offer was wrong. A package being described as acceptable is a claim about negotiations; it is not the same event as a completed departure. Here the later official record establishes retention. Readers should therefore treat the fee reports as stages in an unsuccessful pursuit, rather than carrying the most optimistic one forward as evidence of a transfer still awaiting formalities.
The distinction also keeps the new contract separate from the reported bid amounts. Köln’s release confirms the year and shirt number but gives no release clause or future asking price. A longer contract is not evidence that any of the summer figures became an agreed exit fee, nor that Dortmund remain in current negotiations.
What remains unconfirmed
- Köln’s renewal announcement does not disclose a release clause or a future transfer price.
Corrections
- Source check, 13 October 2026: The original second-bid rejection is followed by later GGFN reports of a higher planned structure. The sources cover a rejected package and later proposed/acceptable structures, not a completed move. Later GGFN specifies €37m+€8m rejected, around €50m next proposal, and Konstantelias; the Matthäus piece supplies the subsequent €48m+€2m+€5m account. The later GGFN source specifies successive bids, player willingness, attacking context and Konstantelias as an alternative.