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Leicester City could lose one of their most crucial players following the beginning of the 2025/26 Championship season.
Leicester City beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 on Sunday afternoon to begin their Championship season with a comeback victory.
Nathaniel Chalobah’s goal put the visiting Owls 1-0 to the good at half-time, and then Marti Cifuentes’ genius change to bring Harry Winks on for Oliver Skipp helped turn the tide.
Second half goals from Jannik Vestergaard and Wout Faes won Cifuentes’ first league game in charge for the Foxes.
Unfortunately for Cifuentes, Premier League giants Newcastle United have now joined the race to sign one of his key players from the Owls win.
Newcastle United have ‘strong interest’ in Leicester City ace Bilal El Khannouss
The future of Leicester playmaker Bilal El Khannouss has been in contention throughout the summer transfer window.
Earlier in the summer, Arsenal made an offer for El Khannouss before it emerged that German giants Bayer Leverkusen were tracking him in the wake of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s departure.
Following their promotion to the Premier League, Sunderland were linked with El Khannouss, but the Black Cats’ interest has seemingly shifted to other targets.
As well as Sunderland, Crystal Palace were watching El Khannouss alongside newly promoted Leeds United, but now Newcastle United have joined the race to sign the Moroccan.
Telegraph reporter John Percy revealed on X: “Newcastle have a strong interest in lcfc attacking midfielder Bilal El Khannouss and are looking at a possible deal.
“El Khannouss has a release clause and is also attracting interest from other PL clubs including Leeds in this window nufc.”
The playmaker’s release clause is in the region of £24.5m, which is just above the £21m fee the Foxes shelled out to Genk for his services last summer.
If the Magpies’ scouting department were watching Sunday’s 2-1 Leicester win, they will have been enthralled by El Khannouss’ performance.
Newcastle United will be excited by Bilal El Khannouss’ display vs Sheffield Wednesday
El Khannouss was man-of-the-match against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, with his top flight quality shining through in the midfield.
The 21-year-old registered two assists, setting up the goals for Vestergaard and Faes, and also created four key chances throughout the game.
| Key statistic | Bilal El Khannouss vs Sheffield Wednesday |
| Assists | 2 |
| Chances created | 4 |
| Successful dribbles | 3/3 |
| Passes into final third | 6 |
| Recoveries | 5 |
As quoted by Leicestershire Live, Cifuentes said recently: “Definitely, there are conversations around some players. There is interest in some of them. That’s the reality of almost every club in the country.
“Some things may happen. My target is to make sure everybody who is here is 100 per cent committed and that everybody is training at a really high level.”
El Khannouss proved against the Owls that he is a step above Championship level, and the Foxes will struggle to retain his services beyond the September 1 deadline with Newcastle, Leeds and Crystal Palace fighting for his signature.