JibrinLast summer, Leicester City allowed Bilal El Khannouss to move to VfB Stuttgart on a season-long loan deal.
The Morrocco international had a strong spell in the first few months with the Bundesliga side. He’s netted six goals and provided four assists from 25 matches this season.
The player was part of the national team squad that fell short in the AFCON final to Senegal in January. Since this tournament, the Leicester City owned player has struggled at the German club, failing to score or assist in the last five matches.
At the weekend, the attacking midfielder featured in Stuttgart’s 2-1 defeat to FC St. Pauli and Jamie Leweling came on for him after the break.
Bild released a report focusing on the 21-year-old’s recent performances and asked ‘what’s wrong with him?’
El Khannouss recently acknowledged losing the AFCON final has been “tough” for him. It isn’t clear whether this is still affecting his performances for Stuttgart, but the slump in form has been noticeable.
Bild state Stuttgart manager Sebastian Hoeneß made a ‘harsh move’ by replacing the Leicester City man against St. Pauli.
When Bild questioned the coach to ask for an explanation, he didn’t hold back.
“I wasn’t satisfied with his performance. We felt we needed to inject some fresh impetus. That was the reason for the substitution,” he said.
The manager admitted he plans to hold talks with Moroccan to explain his decision.
“I didn’t explain it to him. That wasn’t necessary, and we’ll do it calmly,” Hoeneß explained.
Sport Witness recently reported on a German report of Stuttgart’s conditional obligation to make El Khannouss’ stay permanent. There were very few obstacles to activate it, without specifying those obstacles or conditions.
Jibrin
