The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reports that new German national team call up Said El Mala will be heading back to the Germany U21s this weekend. Speaking at a DFB press conference on Thursday, German national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann confirmed that the 19-year-old had made a “good impression” in training. The 1. FC Köln professional was nevertheless not used in Germany’s 2-0 win over Luxembourg on Friday night.
El Mala’s strong performances with the U21s over the October international break led to him quickly receiving his first senior team call up. The teenage talent nevertheless entered the November international break coming off a poor performance for his Bundesliga club. It shall prove interesting to learn why El Mala is being moved as there is, as of yet, no additional information available.
Antonio Di Salvo’s U21s (thanks to a brace from Bayern Munich phenom Lennart Karl and a hat trick from his FCB teammate Tom Bischof) aren’t exactly in need of reinforcements. Nagelsmann’s team, meanwhile, looked fairly weak in attack, especially on El Mala’s left-hand-side.
One nevertheless still assumes that El Mala’s move isn’t intended as a demotion of any sort. Last summer, Nick Woltemade also departed DFB camp to return to the U21s in the interest of helping the DFB-Juniors during their 2025 UEFA European Championship campaign.
