Beni Mellal add Morocco right-back Naoufal Karkaou after Rapide Oued Zem exit

Morocco right-back Naoufal Karkaou has joined Beni Mellal on a free transfer from Rapide Oued Zem, adding an experienced defender to the club’s squad.

The 33-year-old completed the move on 4 September 2026. No transfer fee was involved, with Karkaou leaving Rapide Oued Zem after a spell that began in January 2026.

Karkaou was born in Kenitra and stands at 1.81m. He plays primarily as a right-back and has represented clubs in Moroccan football throughout his senior career.

His record at Beni Mellal includes three appearances in the Excellence Cup, amounting to 270 minutes. He has also been registered for the Moroccan Throne Cup.

The move continues a period of regular movement between Moroccan clubs for Karkaou. Before joining Rapide Oued Zem, he spent the first half of the 2025-26 season with Stade Marocain, also moving there as a free agent in August 2025. He then returned to Rapide Oued Zem in January.

Karkaou initially joined Rapide Oued Zem in January 2024 from CIS Marrakech. That transfer followed his move from Kenitra to CIS Marrakech in August 2023.

Earlier in his career, the defender played for Kenitra after leaving TAS Casablanca in November 2020. He had joined TAS Casablanca from US Sale in July 2018.

The sequence of moves has kept Karkaou within the Moroccan domestic game, while his arrival gives Beni Mellal a right-sided defensive option with experience at several clubs. His latest switch is the seventh recorded transfer of his senior career, and each has been completed without a fee.

Karkaou’s latest club change also returns him to a side carrying the Beni Mellal name, with the player’s national club listed as Raja Beni Mellal. The transfer was completed on 4 September, and he is now a Beni Mellal player.