Why Said El Mala's transfer collapse could be a blessing for Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund have officially given up on their pursuit of FC Koln's Said El Mala, bringing one of the hottest ongoing transfer sagas to a close.
After having seen three bids rejected earlier, the fourth one yesterday proved to be the final straw with the club cooling off their interest in the 19-year-old.
It's a shocking anti-climax after weeks of transfer speculations as Dortmund were confident of finalizing a deal for the German forward this week.
With the El Mala transfer fiasco now in the bin, here's why it could be a blessing in disguise:
Although the fans might be disappointed with the news, El Mala's transfer to Dortmund collapsing means the huge sum they had set aside for him can be used to strengthen other areas.
Yan Couto's departure to Como has left the side thin at the right wing-back position with Julian Ryerson the only natural option there. Maximilian Beier is touted as an internal replacement, but he's been a winger for most of his career so far and deploying him there is nothing more than just an experiment.
The squad also lacks a compelling holding midfielder who is excellent at tackling and helps the side in build-up plays from the deep. Emre Can's recurring injury issues has made him unreliable and Kovac has been forced to tweak his system by going with box-to-box midfielders rather, such as Felix Nmecha and Jobe Bellingham.
2) Another expensive flop avoided
There's no denying El Mala's talents. The bloke's a serious prospect and earmarked for greatness in the future. But it's also worth considering that he's coming off just one full season at senior level. In such a case, a €50million transfer would have put enormous pressure on the 19-year-old from the start.
He's still new to the rigors of top-flight European football. The forward hasn't had the chance to play in a European competition yet and hasn't broken onto the international stage either. Simply put, there were too many risks involved here and Dortmund ending their pursuit of El Mala also eliminates the ignominy of being saddled with an expensive, underperforming flop.
3) More gametime for existing young players
Without another young attacker coming in, the prodigious wonderkids already at the club would have a bright chance of securing meaningful gametime and develop into a first-team prospect too. Samuele Inacio has been operating from the attacking midfield role this preseason while summer signing Justin Lerma is another option in that position.
Had El Mala joined the ranks, it would have created a massive selection headache for Niko Kovac, who may have been forced to rotate more often than he'd have liked. But now, the BVB manager can work towards establishing a solid attacking unit with his preferred options getting consistent minutes.
