Said El Mala: The Germany Winger Jürgen Klopp Wants

Lothar Matthäus leans on the advertising board, the floodlights still hot on the pitch after Köln’s 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen, and doesn’t bother to dress it up.

“He is definitely a player for Jürgen Klopp,” he tells Sky, talking about Said El Mala. “He would also have been a player for Julian Nagelsmann.”

It’s a pointed line. And it lands.

The talent Nagelsmann left behind

Nagelsmann was the first to pull El Mala into the senior Germany setup, calling him up in November 2025 after his rapid rise at Köln. Yet the breakthrough never came. The Germany Under-21 international – seven caps, one goal – is still waiting for his senior debut.

Then came the World Cup squad. No El Mala. A decision that raised eyebrows at the time and still grates now.

Even when Bayern Munich prodigy Lennart Karl, just 18, dropped out with a serious injury in the build-up to the tournament, the door stayed shut. Instead of rewarding El Mala’s form and profile, Nagelsmann turned to Leipzig’s Assan Ouedraogo as the replacement.

Matthäus doesn’t buy that there was a footballing reason behind it.

“Maybe he didn’t take him because there would have been too much fuss around him,” the Germany legend says. “But that’s exactly what we need. A player like him with this pace uses his strengths. He has strengths that you need to be right at the top.”

The message is clear: Germany chose calm over chaos. Safety over electricity.

Turbulent summer, sharp response

El Mala’s club summer mirrored that tension. A supposed move to FC Brentford fell through. Borussia Dortmund circled. Then, against the expectation of many, he signed a surprise contract extension with Köln.

Instead of sulking, he hit the ground running.

On the opening matchday against Hoffenheim, he was on the scoresheet in a 2-1 win, instantly justifying Köln’s push to keep him. That was the version of El Mala everyone wants to see: direct, fearless, constantly threatening the space behind.

The momentum stalled briefly. Illness ruled him out of the 4-1 defeat at Stuttgart. Against Werder, a knock meant he started on the bench and only came on for the final 15 minutes, thrown on as a late spark rather than a centrepiece.

Still, inside the club, belief in his trajectory hasn’t dipped.

Coach Rene Wagner kept his assessment of the forward’s DFB prospects grounded but optimistic: “He has already been involved. There has not yet been any exchange. Said now wants to perform in order to put himself forward. Unfortunately from the bench today, but we have great hope that he gives us plenty of energy.”

Linton Maina, on the scoresheet against Bremen, put it more bluntly. With El Mala in reserve, he said, “a rocket is still coming off the bench.”

Köln sit 11th with four points from their opening games. An away trip to Hamburger SV rounds off their league programme before the first international break. By then, El Mala will know whether his wait with the senior national team is finally over.

Klopp’s first squad and a wide-open door

On Thursday, Jürgen Klopp names his first Germany squad. That’s when this story either accelerates or stalls again.

According to Sky, Klopp wants El Mala. The new national coach is said to see major potential in the Köln winger and plans to trust him from the very start of his tenure. It would be a bold early statement.

Klopp didn’t hide his tactical intentions at his unveiling at the end of July. He made it clear that wide players will carry huge responsibility under him.

“Because every opponent can make the pitch very narrow. The only advantage you have is for a brief moment out wide. The playmakers of the modern era are out wide,” he said.

For a player like El Mala, that sounds like an invitation.

From a purely attacking standpoint, he fits Klopp’s idea almost too neatly: blistering pace, aggressive dribbling, and a direct line towards goal. He doesn’t float around games; he tears at them. That’s exactly the kind of winger who can stretch compact defences and turn those “brief moments out wide” into chances.

But Klopp’s Germany will not be built on flair alone. The decisive question is whether El Mala can meet the demands without the ball – the counter-pressing, the relentless sprint back, the tactical discipline that underpins the chaos.

Nations League stage waiting

Germany’s calendar gives Klopp no gentle introduction. The Nations League schedule drops him straight into meaningful tests.

First comes the Netherlands in Amsterdam on 24 September. Three days later, Klopp’s first home game arrives in Augsburg against Greece on 27 September. Then it’s Serbia in Munich on 1 October, followed by a return meeting with Greece in Thessaloniki on 4 October.

It’s a packed, high-stakes run. Perfect for a coach who thrives on rhythm. Perfect for a winger who lives off adrenaline.

El Mala has been on the fringes of the national team once already and watched the big tournaments pass him by. Now, with Matthäus pushing publicly, Klopp reshaping the team, and Köln giving him the stage again, the equation is brutally simple.

Does Klopp turn that “rocket off the bench” into a weapon for Germany – or does El Mala’s wait drag on into another season?