Ligue 1 English

Achraf Hakimi clears throat on why he snubbed Chelsea transfer and completed £51m move for ‘dream team’ PSG

The Blues were interested in signing Achraf Hakimi over the summer transfer window and reportedly made an offer to Inter for the wing-back’s services but the player opted for a move to Paris Saint-Germain instead to be a part of the “dream team”.

The Morocco international completed a move to PSG over the summer transfer window in a deal worth around €60million (£51.5m) from Inter Milan to join the new revolution in Paris, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Gini Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Sergio Ramos all signing for the French club.

Now, the PSG star has given his insight on a mind-blowing transfer window on a personal level and offered his take on why he turned down a move to Stamford Bridge in favor of the handshake from the Parc des Princes.

He told French news outlet L’Equipe: “I had two offers, one from Chelsea and one from Paris Saint-Germain. But I felt I had to come to Paris, that I would have been happy there.

“PSG is a great club, I really appreciate the support the fans gave me straight away. I was lucky because so many other champions joined me.

“I feel good at PSG, we have a dream team and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Antonio Conte, the wing-back’s former manager at Inter, opts to believe that the Moroccan’s true desire is still to move to Real Madrid in the future despite having signed for PSG in the summer.

Conte, when speaking to Sky Sports Italia earlier in the month, said: “Hakimi’s dream is to play for Real Madrid again.”

The 22-year-old had been hotly tipped for a starring role back at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu at the start of the 2020/21 campaign after an impressive two-year loan at Borussia Dortmund but moved unexpectedly to Inter that summer for around £38m. The defender has flatly denied Zinedine Zidane forced him out of the club, as the rumor had gone around earlier that he was dissatisfied by the Los Blancos boss’ guarantees of a first team role and instead chose to move to the San Siro, but Hakimi has denied the authenticity of the speculation.

“(My first call with Zidane) I was with friends, sitting outside my house, the phone rings, and it’s Zidane!”, he told an interview with L’Equipe, as per reports from Marca.

“He tells me I’m going to play and I did not expect to stay there.

“What happened in 2020 has nothing to do with him.

“There were other aspects linked in particular to Covid-19 and Real Madrid that made me leave.

“At that time I had a conversation with him but that will remain between us. He thought differently about me leaving.”

Hakimi played a stellar role starring in Inter’s unstoppable march to the 2020/21 league title with seven goals from 37 appearances in his debut campaign but was absolutely delighted with the offer to join the Parisien “dream team” after Inter accepted a €60m summer offer from the Ligue 1 powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain.

Now, by his own admission, he is still deliriously enchanted with the reality of playing in the superstar squad alongside none other than Lionel Messi himself.