Spurs in talks to sign “explosive” £43m star

What Tottenham Hotspur would do for a prime Gareth Bale in their side, eh? It’s safe to say they wouldn’t have finished 17th in the Premier League last term if the Welshman was still in his prime.

Bale was part of a squad that was on its way to greatness. Just before Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Dele Alli helped a Mauricio Pochettino-led side reach the Champions League final, it was the spritely and effervescent winger who was the star man.

Sure, the Lilywhites have had some fantastic forward players since Bale’s era but they are now missing a genuine superstar of a similar ilk.

Bale is no longer, neither are Kane and Son. You can count the elite players at Tottenham right now on one hand. However, times are changing.

How Spurs are planning to find their new superstar

This summer is shaping up to be the biggest in Spurs history when it comes to how much they spend.

£100m man Sandro Tonali is their dream target and there is a genuine belief that they can get a deal done for the Newcastle United midfielder. Personal terms are reportedly already sewn up.

He is not the only big-money Premier League talent who could be on their way to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Indeed, another midfielder by the name of Mateus Fernandes is well-poised to join, providing Manchester United don’t continue to get in the way.

Personal terms are already in place for the Portuguese as well but they are so far having difficulties negotiating a fee.

If ENIC can even pull off one of these moves, it would be a huge moment in their modern history. It is rare that they are able to complete these sorts of deals.

The midfield is evidently a big priority but it’s not the only position they are hoping to strengthen between now and September. A number of wingers are on their radar, including Savinho, but it’s Koln’s Said El Mala who is now the prominent target.

According to TEAMtalk, Spurs have been making regular checks on the availability of the German winger and have been in regular talks with his representatives regarding a move.

The Lilywhites are joined in the race to sign the 19-year-old by Nottingham Forest and Newcastle. El Mala has already seen a move to Brentford collapse this summer so the door has opened for other Premier League suitors.

It’s thought a fee of £43m will be enough to extract him from the Bundesliga.

Why El Mala could be Tottenham’s new Bale

In May 2007, Spurs signed Bale from Southampton in a deal worth just £10m. He was just 17 years of age at the time, very baby faced.

While the famous Welshman would go on to become a star, it wasn’t without its fair share of torture and bad luck. The infamous stat was that he went 24 games in Tottenham colours before he finally won a game.

Arriving as a left-back, he quickly made a name for himself as a winger. Who can forget the way he annihilated Maicon at the San Siro? Who can forget that volley against Stokes or his magical free-kicks? Bale was a player who would go onto become one of the best forwards in Europe football.

His pace was frightening. On his day, he was truly unstoppable. Well, El Mala is cut from a similar cloth truth be told.

Just 19, the young German would also be arriving in north London as a teenager and with the world at his feet. He’s got a very similar set of core attributes.

In the words of European football expert Bence Bocsak, the Koln superstar is “a street footballer who just keeps running”. He is “very explosive and can accelerate in an instant which makes him unstoppable at times with his dribbling.” That’s certainly very Bale-esque.

A left winger by trade, the key difference is that El Mala is right-footed. However, like the great Welshman, he’s more of an inside forward than a winger and loves to cut inside.

He’s a prolific goalscorer too. In 2025/26, the Spurs target netted 13 goals in 34 Bundesliga matches. Alongside PSG-bound Yan Diomande, he was one of the top young players in the German top-flight last season.

What sets El Mala apart from his peers is his remarkable dribbling and carrying ability. During what could be his final season with Koln, the teen registered a whopping 0.93 productive dribbles per 90 minutes, enough to rank him among the best 6% of wingers in Europe’s top five leagues for that stat.

He also ranked among the top 3% for shot-ending carries with 2.02. In that sense, he’s so much like Bale. If there was one thing the Wales legend made his trademark it was his ability to beat a player and then get a shot away.

While it would be extreme to suggest El Mala will replicate the great heights Bale achieved in his career, he certainly looks just as exciting and explosive.