Hakimi ahead of Champions League clash with PSG vs Real Madrid: “The other clubs weren’t wrong”

Among recent top league collectors

“We have to minimize our mistakes and then use our strengths,” says Achraf Hakimi. It is the routine answer of a now mature footballer before the Champions League duel with PSG against ex-club Real Madrid when asked how the “royal” should be beaten for the Parisians this time. The right-back admits the necessary maturity in an interview with the “mark‘ may have been missing in Spain. The fact that he doesn’t play for Blancos today is also due to the Madrilenians’ lack of confidence.

It’s “a little bit of both,” says Hakimi – a lack of maturity on his part as well as a lack of trust at Real Madrid. At the record champions, the Moroccan came from the youth in 2017 and became a professional in his hometown of Madrid. A loan took him to BVB, which was followed by two high-value transfers for over 40 million euros to Inter and over 60 million euros to PSG. As a result, Hakimi became one of only two players from an African nation to break the 100 million mark in total transfers. Meanwhile, Real could have brought him back after his big break in Milan.

“It’s normal for a club not to rely on you that much when you’re a young player. But then, when I went to Dortmund, I was loaned out and had two great seasons and I had to come back and make a decision,” Hakimi explains of the development of his transfer story, where Real could have had his hand on a different course on several occasions. Even after returning from BVB, the club in the capital did not rely on their homegrown talent, “although I was able to continue playing at a high level,” said Hakimi. “And then when I went to Inter, there was also a purchase option (buyback clause) for Madrid, which they didn’t implement either, so Madrid didn’t want to bet on me as much as other clubs. And I’m happy because I think the other clubs weren’t wrong to bet on me.”

Hakimi among youngest pros to play in four top leagues – PSG ‘tried hard’

Now in Paris, Hakimi feels very comfortable, as he emphasizes – “like at home”. He says: “The people welcomed me very well, the club, the fans… Even before I came, I felt the affection, the club relied on me and made a lot of effort. The coach too, we had a few talks and he put his trust in me.”

Meanwhile, coach Mauricio Pochettino is an important reason why Hakimi ended up in Ligue 1 and has now played in LaLiga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and the French upper house, i.e. in four of the five top leagues in Europe. There are only two players in football history who achieved this at a younger age than Hakimi. Among the current players, Jérémie Boga (Atalanta Bergamo) was the fastest with this performance at 21 years, 7 months and 16 days. Only the Bundesliga is missing from the top league portfolio. The Egyptian Mido (also without Bundesliga) was faster than Hakimi in 1983 at the age of 21 years, 11 months and 13 days.

Meanwhile, Hakimi, who was 22 years, 9 months and 3 days when he made his Ligue 1 debut, harbors no grudges against upcoming opponents despite the unsatisfactory farewell. “It’s a beautiful game against a team that I carry in my heart for everything they gave me. It shaped me as a person and as a player and made me learn.”

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