Leicester City have committed £19million ($25m) on Bilal El Khannouss an attacking midfielder for Belgian club Genk who is just a few months out of his teenage years Leicester view the Belgium-born 20-year-old, who made nearly 100 senior appearances for Genk and represented Morocco at the World Cup and Olympics El Khannouss — who played for the country of his birth from under-15 to under-18 level before choosing Morocco to honour his grandparents who first moved the family to Belgium — grew up playing street football in the Brussels suburb of Strombeek-Bever before he was spotted and signed by Anderlecht when he was just five he switched to Genk and has been on a meteoric rise ever since he got close to a century of senior appearances for the club following a debut shortly after turning 18 and was voted the Jupiler League’s young player of the season for 2023-24 Not only did he leave Anderlecht because he felt his progress would be accelerated at Genk he refused to even train with the latter at the start of this week in a bid to force the move through after they rejected two initial approaches from Leicester So what are Leicester getting for their money Looking at his smarterscout pizza chart which employs advanced analytics to break down elements of a footballer’s game into different performance skill and style metrics and then gives players a series of ratings from zero and 99 compared to their peers at the same position While he has played as a left winger and as a No 8 — which he has told Belgian journalist Bob Faesen is his favoured position — he has been used predominantly as a No 10 He looks to be able to advance the ball upfield frequently (progressive passing rating: 91 out of 99) and get the ball into dangerous areas close to goal (his expected goals from ball progression score is 40 out of 99) but his stats suggest he still has to hone his sharp attacking touch with low ratings in his contributions towards his team’s chance creation (xG from shot creation: 16 out of 99) His return of just four goals in total in his career three of which came last season along with six assists “He is a very talented player but he doesn’t score a lot,” says Faesen but maybe he sees himself as more of a No 8 in the future He is a very technical player with good vision and he is very good at pressing He’s a runner but there was a bit of a problem: he likes to drop deep and I think that’s one of the reasons that he doesn’t score many goals.” who speaks several languages including Arabic and English should adapt easily and integrate into the Leicester squad “I’ve been around him for quite some time now and he’s that guy who always says hello and remembers your name,” he says El Khannouss certainly has a high work ethic — after every Genk training session, he would monitor his running stats on a smartwatch and he is dedicated to his recovery, installing a cryotherapy chamber in his home, like his new team-mate Jamie Vardy and undergoing cupping treatment every month to aid blood flow You just have to be patient and find space yourself I am an attacking midfielder and I can play as a 10 or an eight but I will always listen to what the coach wants Then I will try to create space with my own qualities.” El Khannouss fits the profile Leicester prefer: a player who can be developed into an asset they can one day sell for a profit But as Leicester embark on a challenging season to re-establish themselves in the Premier League they also need players who can hit the ground running Having committed so much of their budget to El Khannouss “He said maybe a year ago that he wanted to move — he felt ready to take a step up,” says Faesen “Genk felt they could make him the most expensive player in Belgian history Perhaps if he had scored 10 or more goals last season He feels like Leicester really wanted him and I think he expects to play a lot which will help him with the national team “It’s difficult to say (if he is ready for the Premier League) He’s not a powerhouse player but he’s technical enough and he plays fast The Premier League is another world and we have seen in the last couple of years that a lot of players who have come from Belgium have struggled a bit But he has the character and the personality recently bought for £5million from Chelsea El Khannouss seems further down the road in his development than either of those and Cooper will be hoping he can adapt quickly to the Premier League A murder in a pizzeria in the center of Strombeek-Bever has led to the dismantling of a large drug gang as 12 people appeared before the Brussels criminal court for their role in the large-scale drug trafficking The two ringleaders risk 12 and 13 years in prison. In April 2020 the center of Strombeek-Bever was shaken by a shooting A local resident informed the police after shouts came from a neighboring pizzeria just before the shots were fired He found the 42-year-old owner of the pizza restaurant in question with a gunshot wound but died at the scene of his injuries. The shooter fled but shortly afterwards he was caught in nearby Merchtem He had set fire to the vehicle in which the murder weapon was located after which he took off on a folding bicycle is still in pre-trial detention awaiting trial. It soon became apparent that there was a link with the drug environment selling pizzas and pastas turned out not to be the pizzeria's core business  “The victim was the head of a drug organization that trade continued and his brother and the owner of the pizzeria became the head of the organization  “The widow played a role for a while but was eventually pushed aside.”  However She still received 10 percent of the proceeds a series of house searches were carried out imported and exported cocaine from Strombeek-Bever These 12 had to answer for the Brussels criminal court on Friday morning for their role in drug trafficking  “They have trafficked at least 84 kilograms of cocaine always following the same route," said the public prosecutor's office They were imported from Colombia to the Netherlands They were then cut up in Belgium and then taken to Italy in a vehicle with a hidden compartment The money paid for the cocaine traveled back to Belgium in the same compartment”  The business made huge profits for the gang As an example; the widow alone would have earned 1.2 million euros from the drug trade. As an example; the widow alone would have earned 1.2 million euros from the drug trade As an example; the widow alone would have earned 1.2 million euros from the drug trade. It also turned out not to be the best coke one could get in Brussels and the surrounding area Money was central to the gang and this was reflected in the quality  They received cocaine with a purity level of 95 to 96% Due to extreme cutting with procaine and boric acid The Halle-Vilvoorde public prosecutor's office presented them with a (proposal) bill  The two ringleaders face prison sentences of twelve and thirteen years and prison terms of five to eight years for the other gang members The defense won't speak for several months Plenary Session Terminated after Tensions in Assembly Hall Opposition MPs Climbed through Windows to Enter Assembly Offices Tirana-Besiktas Match Suspended Due to Incidents Strong Security Measures for Bill Clinton's Visit in Tirana DP Accuses PM of Ignoring Albanians Living in Survival Conditions | Misha Downey with his children at Tour & Taxis “I often take the kids for a swim at Pierebad in Strombeek-Bever.” Misha Downey is a dancer and performer who has performed with Rosas and he is a stay-at-home-dad for his children and forgotten but interesting little corner of 1000 Brussels” It is his starting point for lots of trips both inside and outside the Region but my parents moved to the coast of Wales in Pembrokeshire where they have some of the best beaches in Europe But on holiday I don’t get the chance to take my bicycle with me That is one of the reasons that staying in Brussels over the summer is great but Brussels is quite small so you can go up and down the canal and within minutes you are in the countryside where the canal becomes a beautiful place that you might want to stick your feet into.” “We have been going on after dinner night walks there but along the way the kids will do all sorts of activities and fi nd things to make a sort of gym out of the area Brasserie de la Senne has also just moved there from Molenbeek and has a fantastic bar there.” Downey was brought up in a place without a garden so he was always in parks as a child and still loves them “For me there is no excuse not to enjoy the parks of Brussels and check out what there is to discover around it Like ice cream vendors or other places where everyone goes the Warandepark/Parc Royal is always buzzing in the summer and they now have better bars there then they used to have Bozar and Cinematek are nearby to cool down if you want to We also go to the Josaphat Park quite often because there is a nice café called La Buvette and because we have a friend who competes in the ‘vertical stake’ – the traditional bow and arrow shooting What Downey misses are opportunities for wild swimming but there is nothing like that here obviously I take the kids to the Pierebad in Strombeek-Bever a nice swimming pool with a skateboard place outside In the same area there is also the cultural centre CC Strombeek where they always have interesting exhibitions.” And holidays are also about food of course “Brussels boasts all the different foods from around the world The ‘Wolf’ food hall that has opened is pretty well done I was waiting for something like that in Brussels And my daughter asked me to mention The Avocado Show near the Bourse where they apparently have very good Peruvian avocados The idea of doing a barbecue in the summer is also nice and they have fantastic meat in Dierendonck.” “I always put on internet radio to hear my BBC and stuff And just yesterday the neighbours were playing Latin music out of their house and it was lovely to hang out on my terrace I really felt like I was already on holiday.” Iets gezien in de stad? Meld het aan onze redactie The Proxy Delhaize in Strombeek-Bever near Brussels was the scene of a violent robbery last night A spectacular police chase resulted in the arrest of one of two suspects Two people entered the store last night around 8 o'clock They were wearing  helmets and are believed to have carried a gun and a knife They threatened two staff members and the shop manager who got stabbed 6 or 7 times and was taken to hospital The two thieves left the store empty-handed and police were able to identify the vehicle later on while the other took off at full speed when they saw the police approaching the suspect crashed into some parked cars and got trapped He was arrested and has confessed the robbery