If at first you don’t succeed, try and then try again the following summer appears to be the Brighton and Hove Albion motto.
After failing to sign Said El-Mala or his brother Malek El-Mala last summer, the Seagulls have not given up hope of getting a deal done. Quite the contrary, they’re thinking about next summer instead.
For those that don’t know, Said El-Mala is a long-term target for Brighton. As is often the case, they were somewhat ahead of the curve last year, becoming the first Premier League side to show an interest in December.
Reports in Germany indicated that Tony Bloom was personally pushing to get a deal done. That never happened, despite their best efforts in the January transfer window, and their interest progressed to the summer instead.
Summer efforts
Renewed efforts were made, with Brighton doing their utmost to try and beat the competition to the 20-year-old’s signature. They were even using Fabian Hurzeler’s connections to their advantage.
A big part of their push was that they were also trying to sign Said’s brother Malek. That was alluring for the pair, who have been together their entire careers and even live together in Cologne.
Their family, particularly their mother, is keen to keep them together and so Brighton being willing to do so meant that their offer was valued highly. Ultimately, though, Said elected to stay in Cologne for another season.
But that has not put off Brighton, far from it. Sky Germany report that they continue to keep the El Mala brothers on their radar. The belief is that they could make a renewed effort for both in the summer transfer window 2027.
The outlet reports that the Seagulls did, in fact, try to sign both Said El Mala and his brother Malek last summer. the double deal was at an advanced stage but ultimately did not go through.
Brother in the view too
Again, they point out that while other suitors – such as Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig – were focused primarily on Said, Brighton said significant potential in his brother.
The 21-year-old was even earmarked for the Seagulls’ reserve team. That would have seen him handed the opportunity to train regularly alongside the first-team squad. Brighton are likely to still offer that moving forwards.
It will take some effort to get both out of Cologne though. The El-Mala brothers are both tied to the German club until 2031. Said has even been handed the ‘prestigious’ number 10 jersey.
But Brighton remain keen and are monitoring them both, with a deal very much still on the table for next summer. A renewed effort is ‘quite possible’.
