Hakimi on Luis Enrique's Impact at PSG: A Revolution in Paris

Achraf Hakimi leans back, considers the question, and doesn’t hesitate.

“Luis Enrique? He has changed everything at PSG.”

It sounds like a soundbite, the sort of line players often roll out in big-game weeks. But with Hakimi, the detail backs it up. Paris Saint-Germain stand on the brink of a second straight Champions League crown, heading to Budapest for a final against Arsenal, having already banked three consecutive Ligue 1 titles under the Spaniard. This isn’t just a winning cycle. It’s a reset.

Enrique’s Paris Revolution

Hakimi talks about culture before tactics. That alone tells you where this PSG side has shifted.

“Since he arrived, everyone has changed their mentality: now we are a team, we play for each other, we run for each other, we are a family,” he told Sky Sport. There is no mention of star systems or egos. Just work, unity, and a sense of belonging.

“Playing like this, everything becomes easier. I am lucky to be in this team, with these teammates, and this coach. He changed my mentality and my way of being on the pitch. He has made me better as a footballer and as a man.”

This is a player who has worked under some of the game’s biggest names at Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Inter and now PSG. When he says a coach has “changed everything,” it carries weight.

On the pitch, the numbers match the rhetoric. Hakimi has delivered three goals and nine assists in 31 appearances this season, an attacking full-back operating almost as a playmaker from wide areas. Across his PSG career, he now sits on 28 goals and 44 assists in 206 matches – extraordinary output for a defender, and a symbol of how Enrique’s system turns his wide defenders into constant weapons.

Fitness Fears Eased Before Arsenal Clash

For a few days, Paris held its breath. Hakimi had taken a knock against Bayern Munich, and any doubt over his fitness so close to a Champions League final is enough to unsettle even the most confident dressing room.

Enrique cut through that anxiety with a short, sharp update this week.

“Everyone is ready. Everyone arrives in a different way. But it will be a week with a lot of changes, rest days and a lot of training to prepare the small offensive and defensive details. The rest is the sun in Paris and Budapest.”

No drama. No mystery. Just a coach who knows his group, fine-tuning details ahead of a game that could define an era in Paris.

For Hakimi, the stage could not be bigger. Another Champions League final, another chance to underline his status as one of the defining full-backs of his generation.

“Being in the final again? I think it is a very beautiful achievement. It was not an easy path and we are proud to have reached the end of the competition again. But now we must not lose focus because Arsenal are a truly strong opponent.”

The message is clear: celebration can wait. Arsenal, relentless and resurgent, demand full attention.

Inter in His Heart, Europe in His Sights

Even as he chases Europe’s biggest prize with PSG, Hakimi’s thoughts still drift back to Italy.

The Morocco international’s time at Inter was brief but brilliant. He arrived from Real Madrid in September 2020, exploded down the right flank in Antonio Conte’s side, and left a champion. By July 2021, PSG had paid a reported €68 million to bring him to Paris.

Those roots in Milan run deep.

“Yes, I am an Interista and I am very happy for the championship and the Coppa Italia,” he said, delighted by Inter’s latest domestic successes. The bond with his former teammates remains strong. “If I have spoken to anyone? I wrote to Lautaro, I get along very well with him.”

He can celebrate Inter’s trophies from afar, but his reality is different now. His world is Paris, his horizon Budapest, his target a second straight Champions League.

The sentiment for Inter is genuine. The priority could not be clearer.

Hakimi stands at the crossroads of his career: one eye on the club that shaped him, both feet driving forward with the club that now defines him. The question is no longer whether he belongs at this level. It’s how many European nights like Budapest he and Enrique can carve into PSG history.