Bilal, a very warm welcome to VfB and the Bundesliga following your deadline-day move. What were your first impressions?
Bilal El Khannouss: “My first impressions have been very positive and I’m happy everything worked out. VfB are a big club and the Bundesliga is an exciting league. Everyone I’ve met so far has been very friendly, and the discussions I had with the club management were very good. I’m looking forward to what’s to come and I can’t wait to get started. I want to achieve great things with my new team-mates.”
VfB have achieved some success in recent years. To what extent have you picked up on that?
Bilal El Khannouss: “I’ve been aware of and kept up with VfB’s development. The club played in the Champions League last season and won the DFB Cup, which are fantastic achievements. As a footballer you always want to build on successes like that and continue developing, and I want to play my part in helping the team stay on this path. It’s also great for the fans to be able to celebrate lots of victories with us.”
You won’t be able to train with your new team-mates straight away because you were called up for international duty by Morocco again. How will you deal with that?
Bilal El Khannouss: “It’s a huge honour for me to play for Morocco and it fills me with pride, so we agreed that I would join up with the national team first. I’ll return to Stuttgart after that and I’m already looking forward to getting to know my new team-mates.”
What have you been told about the fantastic atmosphere at the MHP Arena?
Bilal El Khannouss: “I’ve already heard about it, and I’m very excited about experiencing it for myself at my first home game. Stadiums and great atmospheres like that are the reason I play football. I can hardly wait.”
