When Marseille’s Amine Gouiri almost joined Real Madrid

Amine Gouiri, it is easy to forget, is still a young player. At the age of 25, he has already played for Olympique Lyonnais, OGC Nice, Stade Rennais, and now Olympique de Marseille. It is at the latter that he is experiencing a revival. 

By the time of his departure from Nice in the summer of 2022, he was no longer an indispensable part of the project at the Allianz Riviera and therefore became a makeweight in the deal that saw Gaëtan Laborde join Le Gym. After a strong start in Brittany, he too ran out of steam, eventually becoming a market opportunity in the January transfer window. It was Marseille, desperate for attacking reinforcements following Elye Wahi’s departure, who made the move.

Since his €19m move to the Vélodrome, he has excelled, scoring seven goals in his first 11 games, including a hat-trick in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Stade Brestois. However, his career could have taken a different trajectory. As revealed by L’Équipe, at the time of Gouiri’s move to Nice in 2020, the Algeria international also had an offer from Real Madrid at his disposal. However, the forward made the choice in favour of game time, which would be more on offer at Nice, compared to the Bernabeu.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle