Real Madrid's two problems in signing Bono after Courtois' injury
One bad jump, one bad fall and the season is over before it has even started. A ruptured cruciate ligament in the knee is the worst injury an athlete can suffer. There is also an important psychological component because there are almost nine months of recovery ahead, but there are also the ghosts of what will happen to the player's starting place when he recovers.
The summer has not been a good one for Real Madrid. The departure of Benzema was a major setback. Mbappé is not arriving and the number 9 is still empty while the madridismo wonders if Joselu, Vinicuis and Rodrigo will be enough to define Bellingham's balls.
Now comes the injury of one of the most important players in the squad. A hero whose saves have won games on the epic road to the Paris 2022 final. It seemed that Thibaut Courtois was unbreakable, that nothing could bring down those two metres tall... until the snap left the club frozen.
Real Madrid are looking for a goalkeeper who is as close to Courtois' level as possible. With Ter Stegen and Oblak ruled out for obvious reasons, other possibilities are opening up where De Gea, Kepa, Mamardashvili or Bono come into play.
The former Manchester United man is without a team. A strange situation that could end with De Gea accepting an offer from Arabia at the end of August if there are no options to stay in Europe. It is rumoured that Ancelotti does not like him and that the club have doubts about whether he would accept a substitute's role once Courtois is back.
Kepa is negotiating his arrival at Bayern Munich after some irregular years at Chelsea and in the Spanish national team where both goalkeepers have not convinced either Luis Enrique or Luis de la Fuente.
It should be remembered that both De Gea and Kepa could have been Real Madrid targets a few years ago, when the club wanted to get rid of Keylor Navas. In the case of De Gea, a broken fax truncated the deal with both goalkeepers ready at their respective airports to swap destinations. Zidane was the coach who vetoed Kepa's arrival in the 2018 winter transfer window because he did not want to destabilise the squad that would end up reigning for several years in Europe.
Mamardashvili is Valencia's franchise player. He has a clause of 100 million, although the club is in a desperate financial situation and could sell him for 25 million to Real Madrid. The problem is that the Georgian has not been in the elite for long and lacks experience in Europe.
The option of Bono is the one that Real Madrid likes the most. The Moroccan has had a meteoric career since leaving Girona and joining Sevilla. His performance at the World Cup in Qatar was unforgettable and the raffle to sell him started some time ago because Sevilla sell everything.
He would have been a good understudy for Courtois at the time given that Real Madrid have been trying to place Lunin for some time now because he doesn't convince the coaching staff. Now he could be nothing less than Real Madrid's first-choice goalkeeper if the club solves the two problems posed by the signing.
On the one hand, the price. Sevilla will not give the player away and could ask for up to 30 million euros. In no case would they accept a loan unless there was a guaranteed purchase next season.
On the other hand, the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Ivory Coast from 11 January to 13 February 2024. This tournament would leave Real Madrid without a first-choice goalkeeper for almost a month, albeit at a time of the season without European matches.
The Qatar World Cup forced the CAN to be postponed to June 2023, but weather conditions led CAF president Patrice Motsepe to announce at a press conference in Morocco: "We accept the advice we are receiving, we don't want to take any risks because it would not be good for the whole movement to play a tournament that would go unnoticed. We have to postpone it.
If Real Madrid convince Bono not to play in that tournament, which does not seem unlikely, or play down the importance of his departure in those weeks, the Moroccan would go the way of Achraf, the last Atlas lion to wear white.
