He made a handful of appearances, less than 10. Hence him turning down the contract Leicester offered. He's as yet totally unproven at PL level, so cannot possibly be deemed better than Townsend within any meaningful argument.
True, but Townsend is always up against a better class of player, whereas Knockaert has only ever been up against 2nd division defenders. He's proved he can torment them mercilessly, but it remains to be seen if he can transfer that to the PL.
If Knockaert adapts to the PL and carries on doing...
Townsend has spent most of his career in the top flight, and has played at International level. Knockaert has not. So at the moment, you'd have to say Townsend.
If Knocky tears it up next season then we can have a proper debate on it.