Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal have completed the signing of Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bono from Sevilla for a fee in the region of €21 million on a three-year contract.
The 32-year-old shot-stopper, who was in goal for the Spaniards in their UEFA Super Cup defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday, did not return from Greece with his teammates as he flew to Saudi Arabia to complete his move to the Riyadh-based club.
???? ???????? ????????????????.. ???????? ???????????????? ????#AlHilal ????
— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) August 17, 2023
Bono becomes Al Hilal’s second signing of the week after the announcement of the signing of Brazilian superstar Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
The Morocco international departs the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium after spending the last four years of his career with Sevilla following an initial loan move that turned permanent from Girona in 2020.
Bono played 142 matches for Sevilla, kept 58 clean sheets, and scored one goal, a famous last-minute equaliser against Real Valladolid in the 2020–21 La Liga season.
He enjoyed a successful spell with Los Nervionenses, winning the UEFA Europa League on two separate occasions. However, his best individual season for the side was in the 2021–22 campaign, where he won the Best Goalkeeper award to take home the La Liga Zamora Trophy; he was also voted the La Liga African Player of the Year and was in the team of the season in the Spanish top division.
He made his debut for the Atlas Lions of Morocco in 2013 and has since gone on to enjoy 54 caps for the North Africans. His most notable exploits were at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he helped his side reach the semi-finals, keeping three clean sheets and making two huge saves in the penalty shootouts against Spain in the round of 16.
???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ????⚽️#AlHilal ????#BONO_HILALI pic.twitter.com/929OJuNQ0s
— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) August 17, 2023
Bono, who will wear the No. 37 jersey, will join fellow African and Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly at Al Hilal after the former Napoli man completed a move to the club from Chelsea this summer.
Their league match at home against Al Freiha at the King Fahd International Stadium on Saturday may have come too soon for Bono, who will be hoping to make his debut in that game. However, the new acquisition should be in the starting lineup for the Riyadh club when they travel to the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium to take on Al Raed next Thursday.
