In the latest transfer news Achraf Hakimi has been linked with a move to Chelsea, while Cristiano Ronaldo will reportedly leave Juventus at the end of this season.
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Chelsea have been linked with plenty of left backs so far this summer with Ben Chilwell and Nicolas Tagliafico among them, while Nathan Ake could return to Chelsea and although he’s a center back, he can slot in at full back too.
However, a new right back (who can also play at left back) target has reportedly emerged. According to 90min, Achraf Hakimi is the latest to be linked with Chelsea, as the Moroccan full back has excelled on loan at Borussia Dortmund over the last two seasons. Tottenham and Man City have also reportedly joined Chelsea in making enquiries about the talented full back and that make sense because all three of those Premier League clubs need help in that position.
Hakimi, 21, has 10 assists this season and is a marauding full back, who is often deployed as a wing-back in Dortmund’s 3-4-3 formation. He is clever on the ball, has quality in attack and he certainly doesn’t shirk his defensive responsibilities and even though prefers to play at right back, playing on the left is fine.
With Dani Carvajal and Marcelo in his way at Real Madrid, is Hakimi willing to wait a few years to become a regular at his boyhood club? He expects to return to the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the Bundesliga season this summer and although Dortmund want to sign him permanently, it appears plenty of clubs will be circling to snap him up if he’s available.
Chelsea aren’t messing around this summer and have cash burning a hole in their pocket after their transfer ban. With a move for Hakim Ziyech sealed, Timo Werner on the way and interest in Kai Havertz, Frank Lampard is making moves but most of them are attack-minded additions.
A move for Hakimi, an attack-minded defender, makes sense for Chelsea. He is likely to cost them a lot of cash, though, so maybe a loan move makes the most sense until Real Madrid are ready to sell him.
Speaking of players becoming available, a report from Italy claims that Cristiano Ronaldo will cut short his stay at Juventus and leave the Serie A giants this summer.
Ronaldo, 35, has two more years left on the monster four-year contract he signed in the summer of 2018 as he switched Real Madrid for Juve.
According to the report from Radio Rossonera, Ronaldo spent plenty of time during the coronavirus suspension to think about his future and may agree to move on from Juventus after the 2019-20 season is over due to high wages and the impact it is having on the Turin club.
Where could Ronaldo go? Of course, only a handful of clubs could afford him and Paris Saint-Germain would sit right at the top of that list, especially with Edinson Cavani set to leave on a free transfer this summer.
MLS could be another option, and it is one Ronaldo has spoken positively about in the past, but right now staying in Europe may be the better play until the long-term situation over the coronavirus pandemic becomes clearer. Ronaldo has delivered goals galore, as expected, at Juve. He’s scored 53 goals in 75 games, won the Italian title last season and has Juventus top of the league this season too.
UEFA Champions League glory remains the ultimate goal for Juventus and if Ronaldo can help them overcome a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their Round of 16 clash against Lyon, they will be among the favorites to go all the way when the tournament is expected to resume in August.
Ronaldo looks set to follow the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in having an incredibly long playing career and by those standards he’s still a few years away from heading to MLS.
