Leicester City’s Bilal El Khannouss (21) celebrates breaking out of Stuttgart form slump: “I’m back!” | OneFootball

Stuttgart attacker Bilal El Khannouss has spoken on the spectacular manner in which he broke out of a prolonged form slump against Celtic in the Europa League last night. The Moroccan international deservedly earned Get German Football News Man-of-the-Match honors after bagging a brace in his Bundesliga outfit’s victory. The 21-year-old basked in the glory afterwards.

Bilal El Khannouss’ AFCON Crash

Among the most celebrated players of the Bundesliga summer 2026 transfer class, El Khannouss remained a red hot German footballing commodity when he reported for AFCON duty this past December. Unfortunately for the Leicester City loanee, his form for country was notoriously uninspiring even as Morocco punched all the way through to the tournament Final on home turf.

El Khannouss recorded no scorer points for Walid Regragui’s “Lions of the Atlas”. After earning no starts in the group phase, El Khannouss did feature in Regragui’s XI in all knockout round fixtures, yet only went the full 90 minutes on one occasion in the Round-of-16. Back with his Bundesliga club, the versatile attacking midfielder simply couldn’t find his footing. 

El Khannouss worked as a starter in only two of the five fixtures he was eligible to participate in for Stuttgart in 2026. Against FC St. Pauli on matchday 21, VfB head coach Sebastian Hoeneß found himself so dissatisfied with his player that he yanked him at the half. El Khannouss’ return to form against Celtic last night counted as a most welcome development. 

El Khannouss back to enjoying football

The man so enthusiastic about learning about German football and the German language very much sounded like his old self again last night. El Khannouss was once again back to smiling whilst taking endless selfies with fans in the stands. Afterwards, he cordially accepted multiple interviews in the mixed zone. 

“One must remember that I’m 21,” El Khannous said. “There are going to be ups and downs. The important thing is to fight your way back. I always try to be the best version of myself. It worked this time. Overall, I’m back and can do even better.”

GGFN | Peter Weis