Achraf Hakimi; The Most Expensive Arab Player in History and a Supporter of the Palestinian Cause

Moroccan player “Achraf Hakimi” entered the history of football from its widest doors. The young man, who recently signed with Paris Saint-Germain (France), from Inter Milan (Italy), has become the most expensive transfer deal in the history of Arab players.

The right-back contract with the French capital club extends for 5 seasons, with a value of 71 million euros, according to the European media.

In turn, the young player said when signing the contract: “I feel very proud today, after my experiences in Spain, Germany and Italy. I share the same high aspirations with the technical staff and players in Paris Saint-Germain. I will do everything in my power to give the club what they expect of me.”

Hakimi (22 years) is considered the youngest Moroccan star who managed to achieve many great achievements in his professional career, which is still in its infancy. While playing with big European clubs such as Real Madrid (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany) and Inter Milan (Italy).

 

The Most Expensive Arab Player

The Spanish newspaper “Marca” revealed that the French club Paris Saint-Germain spent 71 million euros to obtain the services of the player Ashraf Hakimi, who will play alongside other stars such as Neymar, Mbappe, Messi and Ramos to fight for the European Championships next season.

With this transfer, the Moroccan player broke the record for the most expensive Arab player in the history of football, and that was the share of Algerian Riyad Mahrez, who had joined Manchester City from Leicester City for 67 million euros.

On the other hand, according to the “Transfer Market” website, the market value of Hakimi reached 60 million euros, in addition to 11 million euros in financial rewards provided by the French club to the Moroccan player, which became the most expensive right-back transfer deal in the world.

For its part, the global website “WhoScored” account on Twitter stated that Ashraf Hakimi's impressive numbers are still continuing, because he knows how to make an immediate impact with any team he joins. This after he scored a goal in his first appearance with the three European clubs he played in after his departure from Real Madrid.

 

His Childhood

Achraf Hassan Hakimi Moah was born on November 4, 1998 in Madrid, Spain, in a family of Moroccan ancestry. He was known in his childhood for creativity in football, which his mother always tried to direct him away from it to other sports such as swimming and judo; However, Ashraf wanted nothing but it.

Ashraf's father decided to support his son more in the world of football, and allow him to play in the club in his neighborhood (Deportivo Colonia), at that time, Ashraf was no more than seven years old; But he impressed everyone with his ability to run super-fast and without stopping, he also had a lot of energy that made him fight even the toughest balls.

In one of the mini tournaments, Morocco Jewel's activity caught the attention of Real Madrid scouts, Hakimi (8-year-old) was summoned for tests in Valdebebas, and to continue training and playing within the young age groups in the Spanish capital team’s academy.

 

His Professional Career

Ashraf was able to join the second team of Real Madrid (Castilla) in 2016 after a continuous effort to develop his talent and skills. At that time, French Zinedine Zidane was supervising his training.

As a result of that experience, the French coach saw Hakimi as a distinguished full-back with high potential, especially since he was very solid in defense, never hesitating to go up to provide offensive support, he is based on his penetration skills, the accuracy of his passes and his quick runs, which his companions called him “The Gazelle”.

After that, Achraf Hakimi became the first Arab player to play for Real Madrid, and to be crowned in the European Champions League (the third Arab player to win the championship after the Algerian Rabah Madjer with Porto in 1987, and Munir El-Haddadi with Barcelona in 2015), and the Club World Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and the European Super Cup during the 2017/2018 season.

The Moroccan talent wanted to play a key role, so he left for Germany. He had a successful experience for two seasons with Borussia Dortmund. He won the German Super Cup in 2019.

During his short career, Hakimi won many individual awards, where he won the award for the best young African player for the years 2018 and 2019, in addition to the Globe Soccer Award for the best young Arab player in the world for the year 2019.

He continued to write history by transferring to Inter Milan and achieving with it the Calcio title for the 2020/2021 season. He participated in 34 Serie A matches, scoring 7 goals and making 8 others.

On the international level, Hakimi did not delay in representing his country (Morocco), where he wore the national shirt with the age groups under 17, under 20, and under 23. 

He also scored his first goal with the main team during the match against Mali on September 1, 2017, in the African qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.

Regarding his preference for playing for the Moroccan national team, Hakimi said in a press statement: “I was born in Spain, but I grew up in an Arab home with an Islamic culture. I am proud to represent Morocco, this is my country, my origins and my culture.”

 

A Supporter of the Arabs

The international football player’s career did not distance him from being influenced by the Arab reality, to which he traces his origins. 

Where the Moroccan young man via his account on Twitter on May 10, 2021, expressed his sympathy and support for the Palestinian cause against the violations of the Zionist entity, especially the recent events in Palestine regarding the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

During his participation with his team, Paris Saint-Germain, in the French Super Cup match, which was held on August 2, 2021 in Tel Aviv. The Israeli fans booed every time the Moroccan player touched the ball from the beginning of the match to the end. This is because of his previous tweet in support of Palestine.

On the other hand, the UNICEF Morocco office announced the appointment of Achraf Hakimi as a representative in order to support the efforts of UNICEF in Morocco and its partners to promote children's rights.

Regarding this, Ashraf said: “I am very proud to stand by UNICEF and support efforts to promote children's rights. It is everyone's duty to support their cause.”