Yassine Bounou claims that he, not Kepa Arrizabalaga, was the first choice to replace Thibaut Courtois in goal at Real Madrid.
When Courtois tore his cruciate ligament, Real Madrid immediately began searching for a replacement. The names of Kepa (Chelsea) and David De Gea (free agent) quickly surfaced.
However, Bounou, who moved from Sevilla to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League this summer, claims he was the first choice.
'That's what I understood,' said the Moroccan goalkeeper. 'Later, the board of directors analyzed the whole situation. They saw that I could go to the Africa Cup and miss many games in an important month for Madrid, which couldn't happen. Additionally, they had other options in the form of a loan deal that suited them better.'
Bounou also mentioned Bayern Munich's interest in the 32-year-old goalkeeper. 'Bayern had contact with Sevilla. They asked me to wait and said they would send an offer, but in the meantime, other names kept coming up. I understood that Bayern was only looking for a loan deal. Unfortunately, the clubs are not willing to spend money.'
Bounou left Sevilla this summer after four years. At Al-Hilal, he became a teammate of Neymar, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Rúben Neves, Malcom, Aleksandar Mitrovic, and Kalidou Koulibaly.
