Achraf Hakimi: PSG’s Rising Star Emerges as Key Leader for Club and Morocco

Over the years, Achraf Hakimi has become a key player for PSG and the Moroccan national team. He is important for the Parisian club but also for the Atlas Lions. The third longest-serving player in the Parisian club’s squad behind Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe likes to take on responsibilities. At a time when PSG is "in full reconstruction, actively seeking new leaders and emerging voices, the former Real Madrid player is now emerging as one of the influential leaders of this new, younger and less experienced locker room," notes Le Parisien. The French newspaper is convinced that the one who took on the role of captain on the first day in Le Havre (1-4) and is in his fourth season "should be one of the vice-captains at the end of the vote organized in the coming days to designate the armband wearer, which he had already inherited at times last season."

With the Moroccan national team, Achraf Hakimi is asserting himself more and more. He is one of the architects of the historic and exceptional run of the Atlas Cubs at the Paris Olympics (Olympics). In August, the Moroccan Olympic team easily beat Egypt (6-0) to win its first bronze medal at the Olympics, at the Beaujoire stadium in Nantes. "He fully fulfilled this role," confirms Amine El Amri, journalist for Le Matin. "He is the player who took everyone with him. He carried the group and he took pleasure in doing so." With the A team, he plays this same unifying role to the point of being considered by a part of the Moroccan supporters as the real boss of the squad. Yet he is the vice-captain of the Atlas Lions, and Hakim Ziyech, the captain.

"Last Friday (September 6, 2024), Morocco was in difficulty against Gabon. It was Hakimi who gathered his troops at halftime and gave the speech," relates El Amri. "He is less introverted than Ziyech, so he naturally speaks in front of the group, he will defend his teammates, he does not shy away." And to add: "This role of leader suits him very well. He talks to everyone. Usually, during the toros, the groups are formed according to the experience of the players, but Hakimi, he mixes with everyone. He wants to make the link with the generations. He ticks a lot of boxes."