Real Madrid failed, Bono heads to Saudi Arabia

On Wednesday night he played his last game for Sevilla. In the European Super Cup, he and his teammates lost on penalties against Manchester City. By Thursday morning, Fabrizio Romano had already announced his departure to Saudi Arabia as a done deal.

There had been speculation for several days. Yassine Bono has been linked with Saudi clubs. When he came into the game against Manchester City in the number one role, it seemed like there was no departure.

However, the match was merely a sort of last dance for the Moroccan goalkeeper. At Sevilla, he first filled the role of number two behind Czech Tomas Vaclik, who was then pushed out of the club.

Since the 2020/21 season, he has been the club’s clear number one. In the winter at the World Cup, he dragged Morocco to fourth place.

But everything could have been completely different with Bono. A week ago, Real Madrid’s Thibault Courtois was injured. The White Ballet had to figure out who would replace the Belgian a week before the first game. Going into the season with only Lunin? That didn’t make any sense.

There were three names in play. Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea, just Yassine Bono and David de Gea, who is still without a commitment. Kepa won the battle for the post at the royal big club. He has already joined the training process during the week.

The Spaniard was putting in great performances in a Bilbao jersey before leaving for Chelsea. At Chelsea, the high price tag probably caught up with him, for which he was under constant pressure.

Bono was thus unlucky. When it became apparent that Real would not click, offers came pouring in from Saudi Arabia. Of course, in the local league, Bono will earn very different money than in Sevilla. After Neymar’s transfer, the league has regained a new level and become even more prominent. Al-Hilal acquired Bono for 21 million euros. He signed a three-year contract.

The Moroccan goalkeeper will thus complement the star Neymar, Milinkovic-Savic, Koulibaly and Ruben Neves at the club. The club entered the season with a 3-1 win against Abha. The goal for the season is surely to win the league and get the Al-Nassr team with Cristiano Ronaldo behind them. They have a two-point lead after the first round.

Source: Sevilla, Fabrizio Romano