Chelsea will be looking to add another winger to their ranks this summer. The left flank has been a problem position for the Blues ever since Eden Hazard left in 2019 to join Real Madrid. Plenty have been signed to fill the void, but nobody has succeeded. Christian Pulisic came close for a little while before fading away. Last summer, the club splashed out around €100 million on Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens. Neither has impressed.
It is believed that Chelsea could already let Garnacho leave this summer. There is uncertainty around the futures of Gittens and Pedro Neto as well.
So, all of this combined, it is possible that the Chelsea wing ranks could look very different from next season. And one of the players they have been linked with recently, Said El Mala of FC Koln, has handed them a major boost in this regard.
According to Florian Plettenberg, El Mala and his family have officially informed Brentford that they do not want to join the club. This comes despite the improved offer of around €50 million, €45 million of which would be fixed plus €5 million in add-ons. FC Koln were prepared to accept that offer.
Chelsea handed transfer boost by German winger
The journalist goes on to claim that El Mala never had an agreement with Brentford. His future is now completely open again.
El Mala has enjoyed a meteoric rise this season. It is hard to imagine that this was his first season in top flight football.
In his debut campaign in the Bundesliga, El Mala managed to score 13 goals and also provided five assists to go with it.
So, it is not hard to see why Chelsea might be interested in signing him. He is exactly the type of player that the club have been targeting during the BlueCo era.
Would El Mala be a good signing?
El Mala has been a very good player for FC Koln this season for sure. That being said, is he what Chelsea need at this point in time?
One could argue that he is not. Yes, he has enjoyed a tremendous season in the Bundesliga, but that cannot place him as a proven player.
He needs to get a lot more football under his belt before such claims can be made. Yes, if the situation of Chelsea had been different, a move for El Mala would have made sense.
It is not though. Chelsea have been on a poor run for the entirety of BlueCo’s time as the ownership. So, there is a need to turn things around. And for that to happen, changes need to be made. One of them has to be the ability to pass up on players even if you feel they are going to develop into starters someday.
The project simply cannot stand on things eventually working out someday. We have done that for four years. It has to shift towards winning here and now. Otherwise, we will just be postponing the inevitable restructure that has been needed for a while.
