Moroccan right-back Achraf Hakimi talked about his adaptation process at Paris Saint-Germain after leaving Inter Milan in the summer of 2021 during his appearance on the program "The Bridge".
Hakimi said: "My first year in Paris was very difficult. I previously played for Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund, where I was a different type of full-back who could make overlapping runs, score goals, and the team built tactics around me. I was important to the team."
"Then I came to Paris: I knew there were Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, and Messi hadn't arrived yet. After he came, Paris Saint-Germain's project changed. We didn't know Messi would join before. His arrival also changed the team's playing style: we played completely differently, I wasn't enjoying it, and couldn't do the things I loved, like making overlapping runs and becoming a key player for the team. I felt insignificant."
“I remember during that time I was still an important player for the national team. The psychological gap made it difficult for me to perform as I wanted at Paris Saint-Germain. There was a lot of criticism from the outside world, and Paris fans blamed me a lot. They would say 'He can play like that for the Moroccan national team, why can't he do it at Paris Saint-Germain? He's not good at this, not good at that'. Many people didn't understand the difference.”
