Mamelodi Sundowns beat Raja Athletic Club to the signing of Abdelmounaim Boutouil with details emerging on how they attempted to sway him from a move to South Africa.
Boutouil has been on a Sundowns target since being scouted at the African Nations Championship in 2020 in which he played a crucial role in Morocco’s triumph in Cameroon.
However, the player was not keen on the idea of relocating from his native country after a stint in Belgium that saw him return home without playing due to the global Covid-19 outbreak.
He then returned to the Botola with SCC Mohammédia, first on loan and then permanently after the club received a significant investment under new ownership as they planned to take the Botola Pro by storm. But with the financial effects of the pandemic, and the club looking to cut costs, he was loaned out to Raja for the second half of the 2021/22 season.
However, the sacking of Marc Wilmots as head coach and the arrival of Rachid Taoussi, with whom he had a fallout, saw him sidelined for the rest of the campaign.
Sundowns then came knocking again with his asking price nearly halved from their first pursuit but with Raja sacking Taoussi after a new president was announced they looked to retain the player.
iDiski Times has learnt that club president Aziz Badraoui, who succeed Anis Mahfoud was willing to match his salary offer at Sundowns with new head coach Fouzi Benzarti a keen admirer.
However, the player was not interested in entertaining the offer while Mohammédia were not convinced they could match the transfer offer amid their reported financial restrictions.
Mohammédia, then surprisingly confirmed the transfer earlier this week and it’s said it was to pour cold water on the media speculation that Boutouil wanted to rejoin the Botola giants.
Story by Lorenz Kohler.
