Yassin Bunu (32), the main player in the Moroccan World Cup semifinals, has moved to Al Hilal in the Saudi Arabia League. Al-Hilal officially announced the signing of Bunu through an official channel on the 18th (Korean time). His contract lasts for 3 years until 2026, with the number 37 shirt. Al-Hilal, who had announced the recruitment of ‘superstar’ Neymar on the 16th, continued to reinforce his power by recruiting world-class gatekeeper Bunu within two days. Bunu played full-time in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla in Greece just a day before the transfer announcement. He moved to Saudi Arabia immediately after the match to finalize the transfer process.
Bunu is rated as one of the best goalkeepers in Spanish La Liga. He moved to Seville in 2019 and lifted the European Football Federation (UEFA) Europa League (UEL) championship cup in the 2019-2020 season and the 2022-2023 season. At that time, he was also selected in the UEL ‘Team of the Season’ and stood tall as the best goalkeeper in the tournament. In the 2021-2022 season, he won the Zamora Award by beating Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), who won the league and UCL, by achieving the top spot in La Liga’s minimum run rate.
Last year, at the 2022 International Football Federation (FIFA) World Cup in Qatar, he played a big role, leading Morocco to the semifinals. After conceding only one goal in three group stage matches, he also recorded a goalless goal against Spain in the round of 16. In the penalty shootout that followed, Spain saved two penalty kicks (PK) to win. In the match against Portugal in the quarterfinals, he blocked all strong effective shots from Cristiano Ronaldo and João Felix, and played a scoreless performance again. Thanks to Bunu’s save, Morocco advanced to the semifinals of the World Cup for the first time in African history. In recognition of his World Cup and league performances, he was voted the 2023 African Player of the Year.
After the World Cup, he received interest from Bayern Munich and Manchester United. Recently, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has been linked with Real Madrid, where he suffered a cruciate ligament injury, but Bunu moved to Al Hilal instead of remaining in Europe. The biggest reason for choosing his transfer is money. It is reported that Bunu receives an annual salary of 12 million euros (approximately 17.4 billion won) at Al-Hilal. He is six times more than the annual salary he received at Sevilla.
Al-Hilal is showing a storm signing move this summer. 토토 They are reinforcing their power by bringing in a large number of big-name players who played in Europe. They recruited Huben Neves, who played for Wolverhampton in the English Premier League (EPL), Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, who played in Serie A Lazio, and Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea. He also brought Malcolm from Zenit in Russia. And with the recent acquisition of Neymar, he signed one of the biggest contracts in the transfer market this summer.
Regarding the reason for choosing the Saudi League, Neymar explained, “The Saudi League has a lot of energy and high-quality players. He continued, “I won a lot of championships in Europe and met many players and had a happy and special time. Now I want to write a new history at Al-Hilal.” He added, “Al Hilal is the best big club in Asia with a lot of fans. At the right time, the team called Al Hilal came to mean a lot to me. I look forward to showing my best here.”
In addition to Al Hilal, Al Nasr and Al Ittihad are also recruiting famous players from Europe. Mane joined Al Nasr from Bayern Munich and became a teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo. Karim Benzema has joined Al Ittihad from Real Madrid. Starting with Benzema, Al Ittihad brought N’Golo Kante, Firmino and Fabinho in turn. England’s vice-captain Jonathan Henderson has joined Al Etipark from Liverpool. Saudi Arabia, which is recruiting famous players based on its strong capital, is also trying to reach out to the European soccer world. According to the UK’s ‘Sports Kidda’ on the 17th, the Saudi Football Association is discussing with UEFA a plan for a Saudi professional team to participate in the UCL in 2025.
‘Sports Kidda’ said, “In front of Saudi Arabia’s powerful capital, famous players who played in Europe came to Saudi Arabia and moved away from the UCL. However, if discussions between Saudi Arabia and UEFA are successful, it may become a reality to see players who have entered Saudi Arabia on the UCL stage. there is,” he said.