Chelsea have used Brighton’s world-class recruitment to their benefit in recent seasons, but links to a 19-year-old Bundesliga wonderkid suggest they are looking to cut out the middle man.
The Brighton production line has been a gold mine for Chelsea in recent seasons.
Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Joao Pedro are just some of the gems to make the switch to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have received their fair share of criticism for this method, having forked out over £200 million for those signings, despite Brighton bringing them to England for a fraction of the cost.
The latest rumour Chelsea have been linked with, though, is for a player Brighton’s recruitment model has flagged as extremely promising, and the Blues think they can cut out a step and compete with the Seagulls for his signature.
Brighton and Chelsea want FC Koln’s Said El Mala
19-year-old Said El Mala was on Brighton’s target list last summer, and his start to the new campaign shows why they wanted him.
El Mala has two goals and an assist in just 217 minutes for the Cologne outfit. He’s a tall, athletic, technical winger who can beat his man with ease and is comfortable in front of goal.
According to Absolut Fussball, Chelsea are just one of a handful of sides looking to sign the teenager. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund want to keep El Mala in Germany, but Brighton and Chelsea have other ideas.
Brighton are principled in their recruitment, in that they don’t sign players after they pass a certain price point. A fee of £20 million was floated in the summer, but if El Mala continues the season on his current trajectory, that won’t come close to tempting a sale.
Chelsea after another winger
Look, young signings with heaps of talent are always exciting to see, but when does it end?
Just this summer, Chelsea have brought in Estevao, Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho. Not to mention another teen sensation, Geovany Quenda, will be arriving next summer.
Where do BlueCo plan on storing all these unused wingers?
There are glaring gaps in this Chelsea squad that need filling, and wingers aren’t the issue. These players hold their value, sure, but at some point, enough has to be enough.
If Chelsea spend another summer impulse-buying all the best young attackers in Europe while leaving flaws further back the pitch, questions will have to be asked about the validity of this recruitment strategy.
It’s no knock on El Mala, who looks a real talent, but there needs to be some semblance of squad-building in the transfer approach.
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