Manchester United are reportedly targeting one of the Bundesliga’s rising stars. As the January transfer window approaches, the Red Devils have already been linked with a number of potential new signings. FC Köln wonderland player Said El Mara is said to have been identified as a possible target as the new year approaches.
Tottenham are also thought to have entered the fray, with Germany’s Bild newspaper reporting that both United and Spurs have approached Bundesliga clubs about the possibility of signing the talented 19-year-old. If Cologne consider selling him during the summer transfer window, El Mara is said to be worth around €60m (about £52.7m).
United and Tottenham are reportedly willing to pay up to 40 million euros (about 3.5 billion yen) for El Mara, while Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have also been linked in recent weeks.
It remains to be seen whether any solid interest materializes in January, but El Mara is believed to be one of the brightest prospects currently plying his trade in the Bundesliga.
The teenager has already attracted the attention of Premier League clubs, with Brighton reportedly interested last summer, with a bid rumored to have been turned down. The offer is said to have been around 10 million euros (approximately £880 million).
Lionel Souk, a member of Cologne’s supervisory board, revealed last week that Brighton owner Tony Bloom had been in touch with El Mara over the summer about a potential deal.
“Through a friend at Carnival, the owner of the club (Bloom) had my cell phone number and called me to see if there was an opportunity through me after negotiations with management failed,” Souk said on the OMR podcast.
“I said to him, ‘I’m happy to talk to you, but I’m a produce vendor and you’re apparently a poker player. We’re not going to negotiate.’ He didn’t think it was funny.”
Souquet made it clear that the decision regarding El Mara’s future rests with the club’s sporting director, Thomas Kessler, and not with him.
He added: “Thomas Kessler will decide, not me. And I strongly doubt that the club will initially focus on such a great young player.”
El Mara can play anywhere up front, but this season he has been deployed primarily on the left wing, which is causing a stir in Germany.
The Under-21 international has scored six goals this season in just 14 appearances and has added three more.
