Achraf Hakimi has this week agreed to join Inter from Real Madrid, as reported across multiple outlets in Spain and Italy.
The deal is expected to be made official this week. Inter will pay Madrid €40m plus €5m in add-ons. There will be no buyback option included in the deal for the Moroccan international, who will sign a five-year contract worth €5m per year.
A key factor in the 21-year-old’s decision to join the Serie A giants is head coach Antonio Conte. Real Madrid made Hakimi aware that Dani Carvajal was their first-choice right-back going forward, with the player also telling the club that he didn’t intend to return to the Santiago Bernabeu to be a squad player.
Bayern Munich were also keen, however they felt that he has defensive frailties that wouldn’t suit their 4-3-3 system.
Inter and Madrid have been in secret talks over the deal since March of this year. In a hugely successful loan spell in the Bundesliga, Hakimi made 73 appearances across two seasons for Borussia Dortmund, scoring 12 goals and providing 17 assists from his wing-back role.
Former Chelsea boss Conte plays a 3-5-2/5-3-2 – this is where Hakimi comes into his own, bombing forward at every given opportunity. There are still questions over his defensive capabilities, however, going forward there aren’t many better wing-backs in European football.
Hakimi believes Inter is the best move he could have made. A big club that is expected to challenge for titles in a system that suits his style were some of the reasons he agreed to a five-year contract with the Nerazzurri as well as the opportunity to work under the highly-ambitious Antonio Conte, who has won three Serie A title with Juventus.
