Leicester City midfielder Bilal El Khannouss has confirmed he had “concrete interest” from Crystal Palace and Newcastle United this summer.
Fussball Transfers have an interview with the Leicester man today, as he currently shines on loan at VfB Stuttgart.
The 21-year-old joined the German side on loan on deadline of the summer transfer window after spending the summer being linked with a move away from Leicester. Stuttgart have paid a €3m loan fee and the deal includes an obligation to buy under certain conditions.
Stuttgart will certainly want to keep him as he’s impressed at the club so far. He’s got five goals and six assists in 19 games in all competitions and even been compared to Messi.
He’s certainly pleased with the move but admits there was interest from Newcastle and Crystal Palace too. It seems, though, that Leicester didn’t make things for anyone.
“Of course, the Premier League was my priority in the last transfer window,” he said.
“I was in contact with several clubs, and with some I was even in advanced negotiations. But it didn’t work out. As far as concrete offers were concerned, it was mainly Crystal Palace and, to a lesser extent, Newcastle.”
Eventually a deal was done at the end of the window with Stuttgart, who had also been in the picture from day one. That’s worked out well for both parties up to now.
A deal had to be done late as Leicester had spent the summer window insisting that El Khannouss’ release clause be paid. That’s something it seems the Moroccan wasn’t too happy about.
“We reached an agreement with Stuttgart. They were always there,” he added.
“And I’m satisfied, even though, to be honest, it wasn’t easy this summer. It was difficult to find a way out of Leicester; they didn’t make it easy for me. What I especially didn’t understand was why it didn’t work out despite my release clause.”
