Hakimi saga all but over, set to become a PSG player

What actually happened here?

As you guys know, I’ve been pretty close to this Hakimi saga from start to finish, and I’ve been bringing you the latest news as it drops from a couple of trusted sources.

Last week, we bought you the news that Chelsea were closing in on a deal to sign Hakimi from Inter, and at the time this was correct. It was soon picked up by Sky Sports, Sky Italy, and the BBC to name a few.

This occurred because PSG had appeared to back out of the move and had been quiet on contacts for well over a week.

Chelsea were serious about signing Hakimi, had an unofficial proposal on the table for him that involved Marcos Alonso, and Inter were keen. The Blues had verbally agreed terms with Hakimi’s agent, and it looked all set to go.

Until PSG came back in of course, and that turned the tide completely on it’s head. This is because PSG was always Hakimi’s preferred destination due to him having family in Paris.

It was always thought that Hakimi would have been happy to join Chelsea, and this is partly true. However, the game playing here by Hakimi’s camp suggests they were always pushing and hoping to join PSG, and the fact that PSG are now offering a better cash-only deal than Chelsea, means that Inter were much happier to accept this offer over Chelsea.

And it looks like Hakimi and his camp were hoping this would happen all along, and Chelsea’s intent would push PSG to make a higher offer, one that Inter preferred, and that is what has happened.

My close colleague Jamie Wilkinson from Caught Offside has a great source close to the player, and he has been reporting this well throughout, he has just typed up the following for Caught Offside.

“Hakimi has PSG-supporting family members living in Paris, which led him to pursue a move to the French capital, ahead of European Champions Chelsea.

“While at one point in time it looked as though Chelsea had seized control in the race to sign the wing-back, CaughtOffside has been told by a source close to the player that Hakimi and agent Alejandro Camaño have been happy to use interest from the Blues in order to apply pressure on PSG.

“PSG director Leonardo was personally in contact with Camaño earlier in the month, with both Hakimi and his representatives under the impression that the move would be swiftly completed.

“With PSG’s efforts to sign the 22-year-old becoming half-hearted, Hakimi’s camp were happy to entertain interest from Chelsea, who were informally discussing player-plus-cash options with Inter.

“CaughtOffside understand that, while it may be interpreted by some that Chelsea did not submit an official offer to Inter for Hakimi, the intention was very much real from Thomas Tuchel’s men to agree a deal with the Serie A giants.

“Ultimately, the straightforward negotiations of personal terms between PSG and Hakimi, along with the fact that Inter are set to sell him for less than their initial €80M asking price, reflects just how intent the player was on getting this deal done.

“He only ever wanted PSG – and it looks as though he’s going to get his wish.” - Jamie Wilkinson.

Simon Phillips