Sunderland Echo

Khazri eyes Premier return with good World Cup

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Wahbi Khazri has hinted that he has eyes on a Premier League return as he targets a successful World Cup with Tunisia.

Tunisia play England in the group stages in Russia and a successful tournament for the winger would benefit Sunderland, with Khazri set to be one of the big earners moved off the books this summer.

Khazri is currently on a season-long loan at Rennes and enjoying a productive Ligue 1 campaign, the 27-yearold has scored 11 goals and provided three assists in 23 appearance­s.

His future will be the subject of intense speculatio­n over the coming months - and he has hinted he’d be open to a return to the English top flight.

“Every World Cup match will be highly watched,” Khazri told Afriquefoo­t. “It will therefore be powerful to try and bounce back in the Premier League! “We must be good every game and give the best for our country, every meeting. After, what will come will come.” He added: “I feel good in Brittany. “I am lucky to be in a club where I enjoy a lot of confidence. It’s good to find time for play and fun.

“That’s what I missed a little during the year and a half I spent in England.”

Sam Allardyce signed him in January 2016, Khazri playing an important role in the great escape but he was sidelined under David Moyes the following campaign, Khazri was then shipped out on loan to Rennes.

On the World Cup, Khazri added: “We have it in a corner of our heads and we all think about it, I guess. We train and work every day for this kind of event. It will be an honour to be there. I give myself the means every day.

“We know that it will be complicate­d, including against Panama. We must not underestim­ate anyone.

“But we have a good generation of players. I hope that we will be able to create a surprise and qualify.

“For me, who played in England, it will be an interestin­g match and that excites me a lot. I will be keen to show what I can do.”

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