Borussia Dortmund definitively out of the running? New interested party make an approach for El Mala

Said El Mala

BVB appear to have fallen definitively behind in the transfer tug-of-war over Said El Mala. Instead, another club have now reportedly registered their interest with 1. FC Köln.

AS Roma are in the market for a new left winger and have also put the 19-year-old attacker on their shortlist, according to Geissblog.

The Giallorossi also seem ready to put Cologne's €50 million asking price on the table. Roma were recently linked with Frankfurt's Jean-Matteo Bahoya, with a fee of €45 million under discussion. That suggests the Romans would be prepared to spend a similar amount on El Mala.

Whether El Mala wants Roma and Serie A is another matter. According to information from Sky, the seven-time Germany Under-21 international does not currently see his immediate future in Italy.

Meanwhile, a move for the 19-year-old to Borussia Dortmund now appears to be definitively off. According to Geissblog, Cologne viewed the financial terms as inadequate, but what particularly angered the Effzeh hierarchy was the conduct of the Black and Yellows.

More specifically, Cologne were "not in agreement with the manner in which Dortmund are said to have tried to influence the player in order to make a move more likely", it says verbatim. As a result, those at the Geißbockheim internally agreed to break off all negotiations with Borussia immediately.