MY ACCOUNT
Premier League fans could soon be seeing an awful lot more of Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
The 31-year-old stopper, who was one of the unlikely heroes of Morocco’s marvellous run to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, is a reported target for both Manchester United and Tottenham.
Ahead of his current club’s Europa League knockout round play-off clash with PSV Eindhoven tonight — a tie they lead 3-0 after the first leg — we look at why Bono is hitting the right note with his English admirers.
Steady rise
Bono is now established as one of LaLiga’s most reliable custodians, though his path to the top has been elongated.
Signed from Wydad AC in his homeland by Atletico Madrid all the way back in 2012, he featured prominently for Atleti’s reserve side but never made a first-team breakthrough.
Loans in Spain’s Segunda Division with Real Zaragoza prompted Girona to move for him permanently in 2016, before his role helping the Catalan club earn promotion to LaLiga for the first time suitably impressed Sevilla.
Initially, Bono arrived on loan to play back-up to Tomas Vaclik in the 2019-20 campaign — but he would quickly end up being the star of the show.
His six clean sheets were key to a memorable Europa League triumph, with starring performances from the towering stopper against Wolves, Manchester United and Inter Milan in the competition’s closing stages coming in for widespread praise.
Moroccan miracle
Since that season, Bono has not looked back — and his exploits with Morocoo at last winter’s World Cup have only further cemented his position as an elite operator between the sticks.
He became a cornerstone of Walid Regragui’s dogged Atlas Lions side, who stunned the likes of Spain and Portugal on their way to an unlikely maiden semi-final.
In Qatar, Bono was a rock.
He kept clean sheets in three out of his six outings on Morocco’s way to the final four, while his penalty shootout exploits against Spain were the stuff of legend.
The Quebec-born ace denied both Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets from 12 yards in heroic fashion, prompting his team-mates to carry him off the field on their shoulders.
Then, in the last eight, he produced crucial saves from Portugal forwards Joao Felix and Cristiano Ronaldo in a tense 1-0 win, eventually being handed the man-of-the-match award.
Old Trafford interest
Manchester United could quite easily be in the market for a goalkeeper in a few months’ time.
David de Gea has been first choice at Old Trafford for many years but the Spaniard’s contract runs out this summer, with reports suggesting United want him to take a huge pay cut on his current £375,000-per-week terms.
Should the two parties not find a resolution, the Red Devils will either need to reintegrate on-loan stopper Dean Henderson into their plans or, more likely, move for a new No1.
England ace Henderson, 25, may well have burnt his bridges with Erik ten Hag when moving on loan to Nottingham Forest, having been outspoken about broken promises over his game time in Manchester.
Bono, who United have been impressed by in previous European meetings, is said to be high on the club’s list of potential targets with a fee of about £45million what Sevilla are holding out for.
Spurs on the scene
It is not just United who are keen to bring Bono to the Premier League, though.
Tottenham are in desperate need of a new goalkeeper, with their skipper Hugo Lloris turning 37 later this year and enduring a difficult season in North London.
Clangers against the likes of Arsenal, Aston Villa and Newcastle suggest the World Cup-winning stopper is on the wane and bringing in Bono appears a no-brainer if Spurs are looking to challenge for silverware next term.
However, their owner Daniel Levy is a notoriously stubborn negotiator and the £20m enquiry Spurs are rumoured to have made in January falls way short of the Spanish club’s valuation.
Much will depend on whether Antonio Conte remains at the helm of the North Londoners, with the Italian likely to demand another summer of spending.
If so, Bono may well make his shopping list.
Star of Seville
Right now, Bono can keep his full focus on helping Sevilla to another Europa League triumph.
Given they are already 3-0 up on PSV, tonight’s second leg should be a formality and the Andalucians’ proud record in the competition sits them among the leading contenders for another success.
Anything less than continental glory could spell the end of the stopper’s time with the club, though.
Jorge Sampaoli’s side are a whopping 16 points off the top four in LaLiga this term, meaning their only realistic method of qualifying for next season’s Champions League is as Europa League winners.
Do so, and Bono may see fit to stay put. Fail, and he will surely head for pastures new.
