The clearest lead is Christopher Nkunku, whose proposed return to the club where he made his name is now advancing quickly.
According to the Leipziger Volkszeitung, parent club AC Milan would prefer an outright sale but may be open to a loan with an option to buy, with Newcastle United also in the picture for the 28-year-old.
Nkunku scored 70 goals in 172 appearances during his first spell in RB Leipzig between 2019 and 2023 before moving on to Chelsea and then Milan, but has fallen out of favour under new Rossoneri head coach Ruben Amorim.
Leipzig's coffers were freshened up further by the earlier sale of Yan Diomande, 19, to Real Madrid, giving the club room to move even after missing out on El Mala.
A second, more surprising thread links Leipzig to Nick Woltemade's former club Newcastle United. The 24-year-old, who joined the Magpies from Stuttgart last summer, is reportedly ready to leave St James' Park after an underwhelming debut season in England and is understood to be eyeing a return to the Bundesliga — partly to strengthen his case for a place under new Germany head coach Jürgen Klopp.
Leipzig are also said to be considering a move for free agent Jadon Sancho, 26, who has been out of contract since leaving Manchester United. English reports floated Leipzig as an "excellent market opportunity" for the winger months ago, and Borussia Dortmund themselves weighed up a reunion with their former academy product before deciding against it and bringing in other attacking reinforcements.
Whether the collapse of the El Mala deal now pushes Leipzig back toward Sancho remains to be seen.
None of the three deals is close to completion, but with cash freed up from the Diomande sale and El Mala no longer an option, Leipzig's business in the closing days of the window is likely to accelerate on one front or another as the club looks to add fresh attacking quality before deadline day.
The situation underlines how quickly Leipzig's priorities can shift once a primary target falls through.
Having spent much of the summer focused on El Mala specifically, the club now finds itself weighing three markedly different profiles — a returning club legend, a struggling Premier League forward and a rangy free agent — in the space of a single week.