New Inter Milan signing Achraf Hakimi says he has lot of admiration for Marcelo and likened his playing style to that of the Brazilian.
Hakimi reveals he is in awe of Marcelo and models his game-play on the Real Madrid star.
The 21-year-old Moroccan was born in the Spanish capital and began his career with Los Blancos as a youth player in 2006 before moving to the first team in 2017.
Hakimi can play on both sides of defence but was unable to nail a spot in the Real Madrid XI. Marcelo and Dani Carvajal were the established left-back and right-backs, respectively.
This led him to spend two seasons on loan at Borussia Dortmund before sealing a €40 million move to Inter this summer.
Speaking on his style of play and what to expect from him at Inter, Hakimi took the chance to speak on his idol Marcelo.
“As everyone knows, for my playing characteristics and also a little for my personal life, Marcelo is my point of reference,” Hakimi told Sky Sport Italia.
“He is cheerful, he enjoys playing, he has qualities that I like. I had the opportunity to train with him: he was a great teammate and I see myself a lot in him.”
Hakimi is well known as an ‘offensive minded’ defender given his numbers for Borussia Dortmund.
Now at Inter, he is happy to have the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez as target men.
“Who wouldn’t like to have strikers like Lukaku and Martinez?” he added.
“For us who play out wide, we have to try to assist them [Lukaku and Martinez]. Being able to count on two strikers like them makes it easier to help them score.”
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