Bilal El Khannouss’ agent (and mother), Karima Ben Aissa, has clarified that the exciting youngster will be getting more game time in the near future.
Speaking to the Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg, Ben Aissa stated, “Normally, he will get more minutes. The manager and the board are counting on him. They say he is doing well in training. He still has to adjust to a new league and a new life.”
She also added that El Khannouss had joined Leicester City to play regularly–something important for him to be able to represent Morocco regularly. Cooper has used him sparsely so far as he gives the youngster time to adjust to a new league. The midfielder has played 79 minutes in the league, with a sole start against Everton in which he was taken off before the hour mark.
“(He chose Leicester) because they count on Bilal and give him playing time. That is very important to us. He must be able to collect a lot of playing minutes for two reasons. Firstly, football is his job, and secondly, it is also important for the Moroccan national team. After all, they only select players who get a lot of playing minutes at their club.“
National team is very important to Bilal El Khannouss
The 20-year-old is on international duty with Morocco and will play the Central African Republic twice in the span of three days as part of the Africa Cup of Nations Qualification. El Khannouss has made 16 national team appearances but is still searching for his first goal for Morocco, something he’ll aim for during the international break.
“The national football team is very important to him. Those moments bring happiness to his life. I think that after the international break he will also get to play more, and maybe even end up in the starting line-up.”
Ben Aissa concluded by sharing El Khannouss’ aim to score more goals. This is an essential aspect for him to work on. The midfielder has scored just four league goals in his career, and his attacking stats show that he doesn’t get himself into good offensive positions during games.
“His goal is to score more and be more decisive. That was one of his weak points at Genk. He wants to do his best to have the team finish in the top 10 of the rankings at the end of the season.”
El Khannouss wants to lead Leicester to a top-ten finish in the Premier League, and while he may take time to settle in England, he definitely has the potential to do so.