Achraf Hakimi: a possible mistake for Real that shows Inter are on Juventus’s tail

The title race in Serie A is still on, but given they’re eight points behind Juventus with ten games remaining, it might be a pretty tall order for Inter this season.

Next season though, that’s a different story.

It’s not just that they have a strong squad this season, but more that their thinking is cogent and they have already started to add in exactly the positions they need to add, ahead of next season.

A deal for Achraf Hakimi from Real Madrid, after his successful loan spell at Borussia Dortmund, is just one step in that direction.

And while James Horncastle wondered on the latest edition of the Totally Football Show whether this was a deal that Real would regret, it represents a coup for Inter.

“It’s quite surprising that a year after allowing Theo Hernandez to leave, who’s been a big success at Milan, that Real Madrid are about to let another full-back leave. Not only has Hakimi done pretty damn well at Dortmund, but it’s a real statement of intent at Inter.

“It shows they know what they’re doing, or certainly that they know what sort of manager they’re assembling a team for. The wing-back positions have been one of the areas where they need to improve, and Romelu Lukaku expressed that perfectly on Monday…

EDITOR’S NOTE: …fruity language alert….

Victor FUCKING HELL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Lukaku with a classic reaction pic.twitter.com/664pQwyFrz

— Empty Serie A Stadiums (@EmptySerieA) June 28, 2020

“It’s a fantastic deal for Inter, and perhaps the sort of deal Juventus used to do and is more of a sign that Inter are getting their act together.”

And it isn’t surprising that the deal is reminiscent of Juve’s old business, given that the man lining up the deals is Beppe Marotta, the brain behind Juve’s dominance of the last decade or so.

“The uncoupling when Marotta was pushed out of Juve in a reshuffle: [without that] Conte wouldn’t have gone to Inter, they wouldn’t have made some of the signings they did last year without him, and they’re going to have a very ambitious summer irrespective of difficult and challenging circumstances because of the pandemic.

“They’re very much in pole position to sign Sandro Tonali from Brescia, and it will be interesting if we see Bayern take up their option to sign Ivan Perisic in the next 24 hours, because that would give them another injection of cash to keep being ambitious in the transfer market.”

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