Badou Zaki reveals failed Real Madrid move during John Toshack era

Badou Zaki has revealed he once had the chance to join Real Madrid at the height of his career, only for the move to collapse because of issues with his club president at Real Mallorca.

The former Morocco goalkeeper, a leading figure for the Lions of the Atlas in the 1980s, says the Spanish giants made an approach when John Toshack was in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Speaking to the pan-Arab channel Al Mashhad, Zaki explained: “J’ai recu une offre du Real Madrid lorsque John Toshack etait l’entraineur, mais les choses ne se sont pas bien passees avec le president de Majorque.”

Zaki, who is now head coach of Jordan, did not disclose how advanced the negotiations became or whether Real Madrid and Real Mallorca ever reached any formal agreement. However, he says some of the details only emerged years later in a conversation with Toshack himself.

“He told me these things when he came to coach Wydad,” Zaki recalled, referring to the Welshman’s later spell in charge of Wydad Casablanca. “Porter le maillot du Real Madrid, c’etait au-dela de mes reves les plus fous. On evoluait avec Majorque, une equipe qui luttait pour rester en premiere division, et on parlait soudainement d’un club qui remportait les plus grands trophees.”

Interest during record-breaking Real Madrid season

The episode dates back to the 1989-90 season, when Toshack was in the Real Madrid dugout.

That campaign, Real Madrid, known as Los Merengues, secured a fifth successive Spanish league title and the 25th La Liga crown in their history. They also set a new league record by scoring 107 goals in a single season.

At the same time, Zaki was coming off a standout year as first-choice goalkeeper for Real Mallorca. He had been instrumental in helping the Balearic club win promotion back to La Liga after a successful spell in the second division.

It was against that backdrop – a title-winning, free-scoring Real Madrid under Toshack and a highly rated Moroccan goalkeeper starring for a side battling to stay in the top flight – that the proposed transfer surfaced.

Missed chance to make Real Madrid history

Zaki, who won the 1986 African Footballer of the Year award, ultimately remained with Real Mallorca, where he played until 1992 before returning to Morocco to finish his career at FUS Rabat.

Had the deal gone through, he would have become the first Moroccan player in Real Madrid’s history, more than 30 years before Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Diaz later wore the club’s white shirt.

Although the move never materialised, Zaki’s account underlines the standing he enjoyed in Spanish football at the time, with one of Europe’s most decorated clubs seriously considering a move for the Morocco international.

The revelation adds a new chapter to the career of a goalkeeper still regarded as an icon in Moroccan football, and offers a glimpse of what might have been had Real Madrid and Real Mallorca found common ground.