Zidane on Achraf Hakimi’s transfer: “There’s the economic side and the sporting side”

Achraf Hakimi’s seemingly imminent move to Inter Milan was one of the main talking points as Zinedine Zidane held a press conference on Wednesday. The coach hinted that there could be developments in the situation in the very near future, while also suggesting that there may be financial pressure behind the sale of the talented full-back.

Asked about Achraf, Zidane replied: “He is one of our players right now, but anything can happen. He has had a good season. At this club there are two things – the economic side and the sporting side. We know both situations. Things may happen soon, but my focus is on the sporting side of things and on the game tomorrow. I’m not saying I’m not interested in Achraf’s situation, but that’s a club matter. There’s the club, there’s the player and there’s the coach. All three of these aspects are important and there are things that are decided.”

Moving on to discuss Thursday’s match against Getafe, Zidane warned that Real Madrid have won nothing yet and that they’ll need to be at their best. He said: “Our intention is to win each match, but you never know what can happen. I’m very content and proud of what the players have done, but we have six finals left. We’re doing well, but we have to keep repeating these results. We’re just one point ahead of Barcelona right now. There are 18 points left so until someone is mathematically the champion then we need to continue. Our rival is still right there and they’ll do all they can to win this title too. It’s not over. The players know we’ve not won anything yet.”

Zidane was asked about the schedule and if it benefits or hurts Real Madrid, but he insisted that this doesn’t overly concern him. The coach replied: “We’ve spoken about the schedule a lot, but all we can do is prepare each match well and recover well after each match. It’s the same for all. The schedule is what it is. At LaLiga they do their work and I do mine.”

Finally, he discussed the fact that so many players in so many different positions are contributing in attack with goals this season. On that, the coach said: “All players are important here. They all work well on the pitch. It’s all about the team. The Casemiro goal was great the other night, but the whole goal. The winning back of the ball, Sergio Ramos’ involvement and then the Benzema and Casemiro combination. I like players who can move around out of their position on occasion.”