Newcastle United rejected twice by player’s camp-Magpies second attempt fails

Newcastle United rejected twice by player’s camp – Magpies second attempt fails

Newcastle United had targeted a move for Cologne star Said El Mala this summer but eventually pivoted to Bazoumana Touré instead.

Sport BILD report on the 19-year-old today and how he’s gone from a transfer certainty to staying in Germany this summer.
Newcastle turned away

The newspaper reports that his mother, Sabrina El Mala, has now declared that there will be no move to England this summer. That will only change if a top club comes into the mix later in the year. That does not appear to be on the cards.

The winger has had plenty of enquiries already, including one from Newcastle United. The Magpies got in contact just as Sabrina declared that she did not wish to engage in any negotiations or discussions.

They wanted to know whether the forward was interested in the move and whether it might be worth making another approach.

Mama El Mala then provided a very clear response. She had already turned down Newcastle in the spring and their stance remained the same. Unperturbed, Newcastle ‘got down to brass tacks’ and made a second attempt at the end of June.
No England move
Said El Mala

Sabrina’s response this time was to insist that her son would not be moving to England this summer at all.

That would only change if a ‘very top tier’ club made an offer. This comprises of Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa. None of those sides have made an offer yet.

Newcastle United got the message. They didn’t bother trying to negotiate and instead immediately pivoted to a deal for Bazoumana Touré. He was signed ‘at breakneck speed’ last week as a result. He also cost the same as El Mala would have at €50m.

That deal appears to have been done thanks to the rejection from El Mala and his camp. They shut the door, so Newcastle simply went elsewhere.