Paris Saint-Germain booked their place in the Champions League final on Wednesday night after the French side overcame Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate.
Luis Enrique’s side took a 1-0 lead into the second leg in Paris and after a bright start from the Gunners, the Ligue 1 outfit would punish Mikel Arteta’s side for not taking their chances as Fabian Ruiz gave PSG a 1-0 lead.
Acrah Hakimi would double that in the second half before Bukayo Saka would pull one back, but that would not take the shine off the night for the Parisians.
Erling Haaland has been an avid watcher of both Champions League semi-final ties and having reacted to the contests before, the Man City star was impressed with one player in particular in Paris.
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
PSG’s Achraf Hakimi has impressed Erling Haaland
Although he scored the winning goal on the night, Hakimi’s performance against Arsenal was much more than this, as the Morocco international kept Gabriel Martinelli quiet for most of the night while using his pace to cause the Gunners problems behind Myles Lewis-Skelly.
The right-back is regarded as one of the best in the world and his display against Arsenal caught the attention of Man City’s Haaland, who posted a picture of the defender on his Snapchat story with the caption: “What a player Hakimi”.
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Haaland has always been a fan of Hakimi having played with him at Borussia Dortmund, and the Norwegian striker would also give a shout-out to PSG’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma after the Italian made some big saves in the first half.
This is not the first time the striker has praised players, as Haaland was impressed with Lamine Yamal during the first leg of Barcelona’s tie with Inter.
However, this is huge praise for Hakimi as Cavan Sullivan believes Haaland is the best striker in the world, therefore, he knows a thing or two about good defenders.
Achraf Hakimi would be a good fit at Man City
Man City will be looking at the right-back market heading into the summer transfer window as Pep Guardiola will need a replacement for Kyle Walker, who is set to bring his legendary career at the Etihad to an end.
Hakimi has been linked to Man City in the past and the 26-year-old would be a great fit, as he has a nice balance between age and experience, which would help the Manchester club kick on from their struggles this season.
The problem for City is that the full-back has a contract in Paris until 2029 and the Ligue 1 champions will certainly want more than the initial £51m they paid Inter for the Moroccan star back in 2021.
Man City are unlikely to pay that for a full-back this summer when so many other positions need to be addressed, but the PSG star is someone the Premier League giants should keep in mind going forward.