Leeds United seem to have set their sights on Leicester City player Bilal El Khannouss as Daniel Farke’s search for a new number 10 drags on.
Bilal El Khannouss has become the centre of a brewing transfer saga. The Moroccan international remains at Leicester City but is on the radar of several Premier League clubs including Leeds United.
But recently it has become clear that bringing El Khannouss to Elland Road won’t be so straightforward. Newcastle United have joined the race to sign El Khannouss, who also has a release clause at the King Power.
Following his move to the club in 2024, the Foxes inserted a £24.5m release clause in El Khannouss’ deal. But said clause has a timeline which is set to expire very soon.
Bilal El Khannouss of Leicester City.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Bilal El Khannouss’ release clause at Leicester City set to expire
There has been a lot of back and forth over what El Khannouss’ release clause is at Leicester City, but the bulk of reports suggest that it is worth £24.5 million. Other suggestions have suggested £22million, and there is also confirmation that El Khannouss has a ‘global release clause’ worth £29million, which means clubs outside of the UK can sign El Khannouss for said fee.
But his release clause actually came with a timeline. It is understood that El Khannouss’ release clause expires on August 15th, leaving Leeds United with just 24 hours to sign the 21-year-old. Given the fact that Leeds are looking highly unlikely to all of a sudden trigger that release clause, it may well cause a bit of a stir behind the scenes at Elland Road.
Leeds United will have to pay extra amid slow search for a new no.10
Given the amount of interest in El Khannouss and the seemingly growing interest in the player, Leicester City may well be rubbing their hands as the release clause deadline approaches. They could, well, charge much more than £24.5million for the player who is obviously liked by several in the Premier League.
MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES
For Farke, it could become an expensive pursuit and his bosses may well have a bit of frustration over the whole situation. Throughout the summer, Leeds United have been looking for a new number 10, but Farke has seemingly left it late. He has missed out on deals to sign James McAtee and Emi Buendia who has played himself back into contention at Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, another number 10 target in Gustavo Hamer isn’t interested in joining Leeds. Missing out on those three has prompted Leeds to turn their attentions to El Khannouss, but it could now prove to be a costly deal for Leeds, who look set to miss this release clause deadline.
Leeds have already spent almost £80million this summer and whilst they still have around £70million left, there are still numerous positions to bolster. Spending potentially £30million or even more on El Khannouss could leave Farke short in what is left of the summer transfer window, which was all going so smoothly for Leeds just a couple of weeks ago.
Expect reports on El Khannouss future to really heat up after tomorrow.