PSG superstar admits he didn’t enjoy playing with Lionel Messi for one key reason | OneFootball

Playing with Lionel Messi should be a dream for any player, but his might can restrict those around him at times.

That was the case with Achraf Hakimi at PSG, who has admitted he did not enjoy playing in the same team as the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Messi can bring the very best out of his team-mates, especially those playing in attacking roles, but as an attack-first full-back, Hakimi’s best strengths were not being utilised when the greatest player of all time arrived in the French capital.

The Barcelona legend helped form arguably the best front three of all time – on paper, anyway – alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

This PSG team famously fell short in Europe and only won the Champions League when Luis Enrique found the perfect balance of individual brilliance and teamwork.

Hakimi has blossomed into one of the best right-backs of his generation with his blistering speed and elite end product.

It was only when Enrique came in and Messi and Neymar left that we saw the very best of the Moroccan.

Hakimi and Messi both joined PSG in the summer transfer window of 2021, with the club spending €68million on the former and landing the latter on a free transfer from Barcelona.

Messi’s arrival meant a system change centred on the star-studded front three, and there was never the right balance in Mauricio Pochettino’s team.

His first start in a PSG shirt came six weeks into the 2021-22 season, so Hakimi had already made five Ligue 1 appearances by the time Messi came into the team.

In those five matches, Hakimi assisted twice and scored once. Between October and mid-March, he registered zero goals and two assists in 13 appearances.

It’s clear that Messi’s arrival shackled Hakimi, and the defender has now opened up on his first season in Paris, admitting he “felt like a small player” as his attacking strengths were not being utilised.

“The moment he arrives, the Paris Saint-Germain project changes,” Hakimi said.

“When he arrived, the team’s style of play changed. We were playing in different ways; I wasn’t enjoying it!

“I wasn’t doing things I enjoy doing, like attacking and being important. I felt like a small player.

“And I remember in that moment, you see the national team too, and in the national team I’m an important player.

“Mentally, it was a bit difficult for me to perform at Paris Saint-Germain as I wanted.

“And then there is the criticism. I remember in Paris, they criticised me a lot. They were saying, ‘Why does he play like this in Morocco, and why does he play like that in Paris? He’s not well, it’s this, it’s that’.

“People don’t understand [the difference].”

Playing with Messi was probably still a dream come true for Hakimi, but there’s no doubt the Argentine hindered him before he became one of the world’s best players.