1. FC Cologne
Kessler reveals conditions for sale of Said El Mala
12/14/2025 – 2:22 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
What would have to happen for 1. FC Köln to sell its star player Said El Mala? Sports director Thomas Kessler talks about the conditions.
In Leverkusen, Said El Mala was just as unlucky as his teammates. In the 0-2 defeat in the Rhenish duel, the whiz kid experienced 1. FC Cologne like the entire team had a wasted evening. However, a weaker performance will not change the huge interest that El Mala arouses nationally and internationally.
Cologne’s sports director Thomas Kessler spoke on Sunday in Sport1’s “Doppelpass” about dealing with the numerous transfer rumors and answered the question of whether FC had a pain threshold for selling El Mala with a clear “no”.
“As of today, there is no reason for this,” explained Kessler, referring to the 19-year-old’s long-term contract. El Mala is tied to the Billy Goats until 2030, with no exit clause. What would have to happen for FC to still let its jewel go? A transfer from El Mala would have to bring so much money into the coffers that Kessler could raise the quality of the team overall.
“If a club comes along and we come first. FC Cologne If we have to think about whether it’s worth taking this money and reinvesting it to make the squad better overall at the top, then we’ll think about it at some point,” said the FC sports director.
It is already paying off that Kessler extended his contract with El Mala before the start of the season. The young national player was originally under contract until 2029. Kessler significantly improved the winger’s salary, but El Mala signed until 2030. Even though Premier League clubs had already put out feelers for the talent back then.
“We had the situation in the summer where clubs approached us and made offers to us when Said hadn’t even played yet,” recalled Kessler in the discussion on Sunday and explained his approach: “We sent a clear signal and said: We want to reward development. He got a new contract, we increased the salary.” If successful, the youngster’s salary will increase even further.
In addition to El Mala’s future, the Cologne Ultras’ derby boycott was also discussed in the “double pass”. Due to intensive police checks, 500 to 600 FC supporters stayed away from the game in Leverkusen on Saturday evening. Kessler couldn’t understand why Bayer’s sports director Simon Rolfes still described the atmosphere as “top”.
“If Simon says that the mood was okay, then he’s probably doing that because of his experience that it’s like that every week when we’re not there,” the Cologne native sent a smug dig at the other side of the Rhine. Kessler couldn’t explain his Leverkusen colleague’s assessment any other way, “because the mood was anything but okay.” Similar to FC’s performance on the pitch.