Aston Villa tracking playmaker from relegated Premier League club
Villa are keeping tabs on Bilal El Khannouss with the playmaker expected to leave Leicester this summer.
Reports in France have claimed Villa are among several Premier League clubs tracking the 21-year-old Morocco international, who was one of the few bright spots for the relegated Foxes last season.
Sunderland and Nottingham Forest are also interested, along with several clubs in Europe.
Villa’s transfer business has been slow to this point of the summer, with goalkeeper Marco Bizot and teenage striker Zepiqueno Redmond the only senior recruits.
Boss Unai Emery has prioritised signing a right-sided centre-back, right-back and a winger but with the club facing something of a financial balancing act, following the failure to qualify for the Champions League, there has been a reluctance to rush and simply make signings for the sake of it.
It is hoped deals for some targets may prove easier to do later in the window.
Villa fly out to the USA on Thursday for a 10-day tour and training camp as preparations for the new season kick up a further gear.
Emery’s men face Eintracht Frankfurt in Louisville on Saturday night in the first of three Stateside friendly matches with the majority of the club’s senior players, including goalkeeper Emi Martinez, due to be in action for the first time this pre-season.
