Leicester City set £22m transfer asking price as Newcastle & Aston Villa circle | OneFootball

The Moroccan playmaker looks unlikely to be a Foxes player next season, with several Premier League clubs keen

Leicester City attacking midfielder Bilal El Khannouss is reportedly available for £22 million this summer, as the Foxes look to balance the books following their Premier League relegation.

It has been a dismal campaign in England's top flight for City under Steve Cooper and then Ruud van Nistelrooy, with the Dutchman unable to arrest the slide back in the Championship.

The season is yet to conclude in the Premier League, so Leicester still have to play through the remainder of their games, but the rebuild will potentially already be beginning, even if the manager situation is uncertain at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester City set Bilal El Khannouss asking price amid Premier League interest

One player who is the most likely to be on the move is Moroccan playmaker Bilal El Khannouss, who has been one of the more positive impacts within the City squad this past season.

Signed from Genk last August for a fee of around £21 million, El Khannouss penned a four-year deal in the East Midlands, but he has been one of the only players to show that he could perhaps make the move to another Premier League side this coming summer.

Notching two goals and three assists from his 30 Premier League outings, El Khannouss is already attracting interest, and according to Belgium-based journalist Sacha Tavolieri, City have set their asking price for the 20-year-old.

Leicester will reportedly accept a €26 million (£22.1 million) offer for El Khannouss' services this summer, which is only £1.1 million more than what they paid for him last summer.

It was reported by The Athletic in April that the EFL are "likely" going to try and have Leicester sanctioned over an alleged breach of PSR (profit & sustainability regulations), an issue which is still going through an arbitration process after the Foxes were initially cleared, but it may mean that they need to balance their books accordingly with some sales.

CaughtOffside have claimed that Newcastle, Aston Villa, Fulham and Wolves are all looking into a move for El Khannouss, so it looks pretty unlikely that he will still be a Leicester player come September.

Losing Bilal El Khannouss would be a blow for Leicester City but it may be a necessary sale

Due to the potential of the EFL striking them with punishments, Leicester and owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha may have to make some decisions that they really didn't want to have to do, such as selling top performers from the 2024-25 season.

El Khannouss obviously falls into that bracket given his flashes of talent, and it wouldn't be a shock if a Premier League clubs - or perhaps an outfit from overseas comes in for the Moroccan.

Leicester have a number of wingers for next season who can be really dangerous, but when it comes to a player in the number 10, they don't really have much depth beyond El Khannouss.