El Khannouss deal 'in motion' - Cooper

Bilal El Khannouss is close to a move to Leicester from Genk

Genk forward Bilal El Khannouss is edging closer to his move to Leicester City, boss Steve Cooper confirmed.

The Morocco international is poised to complete a deal for about £21m before Friday's transfer deadline, and before the Foxes host Aston Villa on Saturday.

The 20-year-old, who was born in Belgium, has made 90 appearances for Genk and won the Belgian Pro League's Young Player of the Season in 2023-24.

Cooper said: "The process is definitely in motion, there's no point denying that. It's not completed and I don't want to go too early on it. It's in motion and let's let it complete first.

"You want young players in your team and squad. It's always nice to have a good blend in the longer team and compete week in, week out."

Reports in Belgium suggest El Khannouss has not trained since Monday in order to force a move to King Power Stadium.

"With a bit more experience he might have handled it a bit differently in the past few days," said Genk coach Thorsten Fink at a news conference in Belgium on Thursday.

"Bilal's mind was set on leaving. It was good that we didn't play at the weekend [the match against Anderlecht was postponed] because you know that his mind wasn't on it.

"You need players who are fully focused on their club and not on a transfer."