Hakimi explains why he snubbed Chelsea for PSG
PSG’s right-back Achraf Hakimi has explained why he chose to move to Paris Saint-Germain over Chelsea in the summer.
Hakimi had an impressive season at Inter Milan where he netted seven goals and contributed to ten as a wing-back, helping Inter win the Scudetto. But financial challenges with the Italian club led to the sale of Hakimi to PSG.
Several clubs were interested in signing the Moroccan but European Champions, Chelsea and PSG made offers with the French side meeting Inter’s demands to seal his signature making him their first signing of an extremely busy summer. In an interview, Hakimi explained why he decided to move to Paris instead.
“When I received these two offers, I had the intuition that I had to come to Paris, that I was going to be happy there,” he said.
“PSG are a great club and I appreciated how much the people here seemed to love and desire me. And I was lucky that my arrival was accompanied by great transfers. I’m already sure I wasn’t wrong, I feel good, we have a dream team and I’m happy to be part of it.”
“Mauricio Pochettino said that he liked the way I played and that I was going to learn a lot from him. We hit it off during this conversation. He is a coach that I like: he likes to dominate matches thanks to the possession of the ball and to play very attacking.
“A few years ago he already wanted me at Tottenham. He has a way of managing and playing his teams that can help me progress. I needed a coach who gave me confidence and the freedom to attack.”
Hakimi came through the youth ranks at Real Madrid but never managed to make first-team play as Dani Carvajal was difficult to be uprooted. Despite all, Hakimi disclosed how thankful he is to Real Madrid and the impact they had on his career.
“Real Madrid is the club of my childhood, the one thanks to which I am today here, at PSG, doing an interview with you!”
“They took me out of the neighbourhood, learned the values of football, built as a man, too. I stayed there for more than twelve years, I have a lot of gratitude for this club. For the moment, I haven’t had the opportunity to triumph there, you never know what the future will be like. Today, all that matters is Paris, I am obviously very motivated to accomplish great things in this jersey,” he added.
By: George Addo | Join our Telegram Channel
