Bilal El Khannouss has completed a permanent transfer from Leicester City to VfB Stuttgart. Leicester City announced the move after Stuttgart had already moved to lock it in at the end of May, leaving the midfielder as the first official exit of the summer rebuild at King Power Stadium.
Leicester said the 22-year-old Morocco international joined from Genk in the summer of 2024, then spent the 2025/26 season on loan with Stuttgart. The club’s statement also said he played 39 times for Leicester in all competitions and scored three goals.
Stuttgart already had the obligation
The loan arrangement carried an obligation to make the transfer permanent, so once the conditions were met the move had to follow through. Stuttgart handled that step first, with the permanent switch announced at the end of May, while Leicester only issued its exit update after the turn of the financial year.
That timing leaves the transaction split across two moments. One club moved early on the paperwork. Leicester followed later on the accounting side.
Leicester also put the deal in financial terms by saying the fee was undisclosed. Reports in Germany said Stuttgart will pay €17million on top of the €3m loan fee paid last year, and that would lift the total package to €20million, or about £17.2m using the figures tied to the move. Leicester is understood to be making a profit on the playmaker.
El Khannouss at Stuttgart
His Stuttgart spell was productive. He played 41 times, scored nine goals and provided seven assists, which explains why the obligation to buy was triggered rather than left hanging for another window.
For Leicester, the sale starts the first official transfer of a major rebuild. New manager Russell Martin has already begun shaping the squad for the 2026/27 campaign, and El Khannouss is the kind of exit that clears room as much as it closes a chapter.
For El Khannouss, the move turns a loan into a permanent stay at Stuttgart. For Leicester, it brings one of their more valuable assets into the rebuild at a moment when the squad is being reset and the financial return now matters as much as the footballing one.
