According to the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, powerhouse agent Ali Barat—especially well connected in England and sometimes feared within the game—has offered his services to the El Mala family. The regional paper cites British media, which label him a “super agent” who makes clubs tremble.
Barat only entered the German spotlight this summer, when he masterminded Nicolas Jackson’s loan move to FC Bayern and then issued a triumphant press release billing himself as a “game-changer”.
The statement, headlined “Ali Barat has redefined the game”, brimmed with self-praise: According to Barat, Jackson’s loan to Bayern was a “strategic masterstroke”: “Where others wait, I act. Where others compromise, I deliver,” he wrote, describing himself as a “new-generation super-agent” who sees visions where others see problems. “We build careers. We shape futures. We run the game.”
Despite the self-aggrandisement, Barat is widely acknowledged as a major industry player. Last summer he also orchestrated the moves of Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig to Tottenham Hotspur), Piero Hincapie (Bayer Leverkusen to Arsenal), Dean Huijsen (AFC Bournemouth to Real Madrid) and Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven to RB Leipzig). In December 2025, Tuttosport named him Golden Boy for the second time as the year’s best agent.
In early March, El Mala split with his previous agent from the Spanish agency Footfeel ISM and has since been represented by his parents, Sabrina and Mohammed.
For both the club and the player, avoiding relegation is now the top priority. Cologne have not won in the Bundesliga since 30 January and have slipped to 15th place. After a 3-3 draw in the Rhine derby with Borussia Mönchengladbach, coach Lukas Kwasniok was sacked and replaced by assistant Rene Wagner, who had joined from Union Berlin at the start of the season.