Given that the North Londoners came out of that Morgan Gibbs-White saga on the back foot with the former Wolves midfielder signing a new contract at City Ground, Daniel Levy has now apparently recognised Leicester City star Bilal El Khannouss.
What once looked like splendid first few weeks in the transfer window, where the chiefs at Hotspur Way were pushing towards moving for Mohammed Kudus, who was brought in as a marquee signing from West Ham, shortly arrived after the Lilywhites confirmed the permanent acquisition of Mathys Tel, and it looked like Daniel Levy was about to compound on his financial flex and bring in some highly regarded players as he looked to welcome back Champions League football at N17 with seriousness. But things have not been on the up since…
But now the chiefs at Hotspur Way have gotten back to the strategy that has been working at Tottenham of late: bringing in highly acclaimed young players with huge upside and developing them through the corridors at N17, and that is where El Khannouss comes into the picture. The 21-year-old had a good first season in the English top tier despite Leicester City’s relegation, and those performances from the Moroccan have left enough of an impression on the decision-makers at Tottenham as they look to ramp up the chase for his signature.
There are expectations that he will leave King Power in the ongoing summer transfer window, and the reports quote a possible 25m price tag for his signature, which is well within the financial flex of the 63-year-old club chairman. But they will have to see off competition from Newcastle United as well as Crystal Palace, who are also in the race for the talent described as a ‘magician‘ by scout Jacek Kulig.
And we will take this opportunity to understand why he has been eyed at North London…
How does Bilal El Khannouss fit in at Tottenham under Thomas Frank?
The 21-year-old has already shown his tactical intelligence in the English top tier when he managed to catch many by surprise with his abilities playing in that #10 role for the Foxes. So you can place the Moroccan in the advanced central midfield (No. 8) role or even as a shadow striker. He can also play as a wide playmaker drifting inside.
And this mirrors through to the potential fluidity that Thomas Frank demands from his advanced midfielders.
Moreover, given that the Dane head coach likes to operate with pressing triggers whilst deploying quick rotations and intelligent half-space occupation, which are all the areas where Bilal excels.
But there is more; El Khannouss is really good when it comes to playing in vertical transitions, where he is quickly connecting midfield to attack with sharp yet progressive passing. Andy with the Lilywhites is expected to play in a more compact structure under Frank; the North Londoners can end up using Bilal’s one-touch combinations and line-breaking passes, which can help you free players like Mohammed Kudus, Heung-min Son (if he does end up staying), or Mathys Tel. The Moroccan also has this ability to get the better of tight defences with incisive dribbles and disguised through balls (which we saw from him time and again at King Power).
But he is not like the physical and Premier League-hardened Gibbs-White; instead, El Khannouss is more silky yet artful while he tries to dictate the tempo of the players who can play against low blocks or in Europe, where the Lilywhites will need more control. And that is where you can use one of his standout traits, which is his ability to carry and retain possession under pressure, given how critical he is when playing against high-pressing sides.
We have seen the North Londoners not having that sense of composure on the ball at times across the last season, and bringing in the 21-year-old in question could help the Lilywhites resolve that given that he has this tight ball control complemented by his quick pivots, and then he has this awareness, which ends up in line with what Thomas Frank does expect from his midfielders.
We will see Tottenham under the Dane trying to evade the first wave of pressure while switching the tempo of the sequences a lot of the time, and this is where Bilal El Khannouss could also prove useful.
Before singing Bilal El Khannouss, we need to remember that…
As I highlighted before, he is not as physical as MGW, so at times you could see him get dominated off the ball, and he would need to work on building that strength if he is to survive in the English top tier. And then you’d have to remember that while he is an alternative to Gibbs-White, he might give you similar outputs to what we expected from the England international, given that Bilal is quite really raw as compared to MGW.
If Tottenham are looking to go young with high potential, then he and McAtee are the obvious choices. And given Bilal’s price tag, he wouldn’t come as expensive when compared to the Nottingham man, but given his abilities, he does have the potential to become quite as good as or even better than Gibbs-White.
