Köln confirmed the extension on Thursday evening, with the winger switching from his familiar number 13 to the club's prestigious number 10 shirt as part of the announcement.
"It was a huge honour to wear the 13 for you," El Mala said in a video message to fans, before adding: "But your new number 10 stays."
The move ends months of speculation that had also drawn interest from RB Leipzig, with Dortmund reportedly unwilling to meet a fee in the region of €50million before pulling out of talks altogether.
According to the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, El Mala's parents will now receive five per cent of any future transfer fee should their son eventually be sold, on top of an annual loyalty payment of €500,000 from the club.
El Mala himself has seen his salary at least double from its previous level of €1.2million a year, with reports from Sky Germany and come-on-fc.com suggesting his total package, including bonuses, could now be worth around €3million annually — making him Köln's highest earner.
Just as significant for Cologne is what the contract does not contain. As with his previous extension in 2025, the new deal includes no exit clause, meaning the Bundesliga club retains full control over any future sale. Sporting director Thomas Kessler confirmed as much at a fan event on Friday.
"There is no gentleman's agreement, and there is no clause in the new contract either," he said, adding that Köln would only consider offers "at a level that would offset the sporting loss."
The extension caps a whirlwind summer for El Mala, who at various points looked close to moves to the Premier League, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig before opting to stay in the city where he made his name. His younger brother Malek, who plays for Köln's reserve side, was rewarded with his own extension to 2031 earlier in the window.
Köln's willingness to go this far to keep hold of El Mala reflects how central he has become to the club's plans. The winger made his breakthrough last season and has continued to develop under head coach René Wagner, whose relationship with the player is understood to have been a significant factor in persuading him to stay rather than push for a move to the Bundesliga's bigger clubs.