Bilal El Khannouss now on Liverpool radar at bargain £13m

Liverpool are now watching Genk midfielder, Bilal El Khannouss, according to reports. The youngster could be a bargain transfer.

This comes from Corriere dello Sport in Italy. They've produced a little run-down of Bilal El Khannouss - one of the brightest prospects around right now.

El Khannouss is currently with Genk in Belgium, a club that as CdS points out, has a history of generating wonderful footballers. Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois are the pick of the bunch there.

And El Khannouss could be next. The teenager caught the eye enough to earn a place in Morocco's World Cup squad last year and made his international debut in the Third-Place PlayOff against Croatia.

He's built his reputation further this season, too, kicking on in just about every aspect of his game. Despite playing half the minutes he did last season, El Khannouss has already created more chances in this campaign (per Opta data).

The attacking midfielder really does look like a bright talent and one who would cost around £13m as things stand, say CdS. That is merely the starting price, though - Genk could end up securing far more in a bidding war.

And two teams who could be in that war are Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. Those are the only two clubs named in the report as having El Khannouss on their radar.

Everyone can expect more eyes on him this winter, however, as Morrocco compete at the Africa Cup of Nations. A good showing there would increase his reputation even further and teams will be watching.

From a Liverpool perspective, though, it's difficult to see why they'd make a move anytime soon. Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott have the attacking midfield spots locked down for the long term. Everyone saw how difficult it was for Fabio Carvalho to get a game there last season.

So would there even be room for El Khannouss? That'll depend on just how high his potential reaches. If it's as high as those who came before him, perhaps Liverpool would make that room.