Al Hilal goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou has revealed he was Real Madrid’s first choice option to replace Thibaut Courtois before the club switched attention towards Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Courtois ruptured his ACL just a few days before the 2023–24 season and compelled Real Madrid to look for a replacement.
After all, the terrible severity of the Belgium international’s injury guaranteed that he would be sidelined for virtually the whole season.
Although Los Blancos ultimately decided to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan from Chelsea, they had considered other players, including Yassine Bounou, also known as Bono.
According to Madrid Universal, the Spanish giants had expressed interest in the former Sevilla goalkeeper before he joined with Al Hilal in the summer. But the transfer did not pull through.
Bono stated that he was “the first choice” for Real Madrid to replace Courtois this summer in an interview with Marca.
He did, however, add that the deal never happened. This is because the management of the Merengues had some reservations about his probable participation in the Africa Cup of Nations at the start of 2024.
“That’s what I understand. Afterwards, the board analysed the situation, saw that I could go to the Africa Cup and miss a lot of games in an important month for Real Madrid and it wasn’t possible,” the 32-year-old Moroccan international said.
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“Besides, they had other options that they could manage on loan that suited them better.
“The African Cup has had a big influence on this market, both for me and for Youssef (En-Nesyri),” Bono further insisted.
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