Madrid made a huge mistake in letting world's best right-back Hakimi go

Robin Bairner

• 23 Sept 2021 11:52 BST
• 4 min read

Real Madrid may be looking good in La Liga, but as a club that habitually collects world-class talent, they will rue the decision to allow Achraf Hakimi to depart.

Hakimi was allowed to leave in 2020 for a fee of around €40 million to Inter. While in Serie A, the Morocco international excelled, scoring seven goals from 37 league outings as he helped the club to win the domestic title.

Paris Saint-Germain’s interest was sufficiently piqued to make a €60m move for Hakimi in the summer and they are now the club reaping the rewards of his offensive excellence.

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On Wednesday, Hakimi saved his new team from dropping their first points of the season with two fine goals in a 2-1 win over Metz away from home. The second was particularly impressive. With 94 minutes played, he drove into the box, cut inside on his weaker left foot and sent a searing shot into the corner of the net.

It was the type of clutch play that coaches crave.

Real Madrid's Alexander-Arnold interest

There appears to be no way back for Hakimi to Madrid, the city he was born. Real toyed with him for a couple of years without ever properly exploiting him and even after two convincing loan spells at Borussia Dortmund, he was not given a proper chance.

Now, El Nacional reports that in the summer of 2022, Los Blancos are out to find a replacement – or at least competition for – Dani Carvajal.

The Catalan source suggests that they have turned their attentions towards Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is a similarly swashbuckling full-back, albeit a player more noted for his assists than scoring contribution.

Alexander-Arnold appears to be a distant dream for Real Madrid, though. Not only has he just signed a new Liverpool deal and appears in the forefront of the Reds’ long-term thinking, simply affording him will be difficult given they seem to have prioritised both Kylian Mbappe from PSG and Erling Haaland from Dortmund.

Putting aside the issue of whether Madrid can afford to but him, it is clear that Alexander-Arnold, who has four years left on his deal at Anfield, would cost many times more than the €40m they sold Hakimi for.

And is Alexander-Arnold any better than the Moroccan? Certainly, he has greater experience of winning major trophies, but after a prolonged slump in form that the Englishman only now seems to be overcoming, Hakimi appears to be the leading right-back in the world game. The PSG man is certainly the most decisive and Real Madrid must wish he never left.