RB Leipzig eye up Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss as Xavi Simons’ sale to Chelsea nears | OneFootball

Santi Aouna reports that RB Leipzig are eyeing up Leicester City’s Bilal El Khannouss as a potential replacement for Xavi Simons. The Foot Mercato journalist also links the Moroccan international with Crystal Palace. The Bundesliga club, per Aouna, is simply monitoring the 21-year-old at this point.

Leipzig continue to work on the sale of Xavi Simons to Chelsea. The German Red Bulls must trim down their 38-man-squad, which contains far too many attackers, ahead of the forthcoming Bundesliga campaign. Simons’ sale appears even more likely in this context.

Once the Dutchman’s move is confirmed, more administrative rigor can be extended in pursuit of other targets. El Khannouss generally plays much deeper than Xavi, but did score two Premier League goals for the relegated foxes last year.

El Khannouss maintains an estimated market value of €28m. Leicester spent €22.5m to acquire him from KRC Genk last summer. He ended up featuring in 32 English top flight fixtures during the 2024/25 campaign.

GGFN | Peter Weis