Considered by Luis Enrique as the best right back in the world in the fall of 2025, Achraf Hakimi is going through a significantly less prosperous period in the PSG jersey. As he prepares to return to the Champions League against Slovan Bratislava this Wednesday, the Moroccan has been struggling for eight months to regain his exceptional influence. Terribly hampered last season by two major injuries to the ankle and then to the hamstrings which caused him to miss 80 days of competition and 22 matches, the 27-year-old full-back shows a sharp decline in performance with 1 goal and 5 assists in 2026. If his generosity in high-intensity races remains intact, his physical domination and his accuracy in the last gesture seem to have been undermined for the first time.
This lack of edge can also be explained by a lack of continuity on his side. The technical complicity he had with Ousmane DembĂ©lĂ© during the 2024-2025 season now seems far away. In recent months, the Moroccan international has had to deal with an incessant turnover of wingers in Luis Enrique’s demanding system, playing successively alongside DĂ©sirĂ© DouĂ©, Khvitcha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola, Lee Kang-in or more recently Maghnes Akliouche. Without really any automatisms, Hakimi loses efficiency in the game under pressure, allowing some technical inaccuracies to reappear again in his restarts.
Luis Enrique wants to help Achraf Hakimi
Despite this difficult period marked by poor choices, notably during the recent defeat against Monaco (1-2), there is no need for panic within the capital club as indicated. The Team. Internally, the Parisian staff knows perfectly well that the defender needs to string together the minutes to find his cruising speed. To help him reach his best athletic level without risking a relapse, Luis Enrique plans to grant him targeted rest periods in the coming weeks, applying a management of playing time that he has already successfully tested with other locker room executives.
Beyond the field, the player also has to deal with heavy extra-sporting pressure, which also explains his drop in performance. At the end of June, the Versailles Court of Appeal confirmed his referral to the departmental criminal court following accusations of rape dating back to February 2023. Although he appealed to the Court of Cassation, with a decision expected in October, and his entourage emphasizes his total serenity while awaiting a trial scheduled for 12 to 18 months, Hakimi knows that he will have to perform all season while dragging this legal burden. For all these reasons, Hakimi is falling short at the start of the season.
