Exclusive: Thomas Tuchel remains “a big fan” of star Chelsea wanted to sign a year ago

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel remains a big admirer of Paris Saint-Germain right-back Achraf Hakimi after the Blues also wanted to sign him last summer.

However, for the moment it doesn’t look like the Morocco international is at all close to leaving PSG, according to Fabrizio Romano in his latest exclusive column for CaughtOffside.

Chelsea don’t exactly look in urgent need of a new right-back due to already having the excellent Reece James in that position, but there’s no doubt Hakimi is a world class talent as well.

It may be worth keeping one eye on this saga in the weeks ahead, but for now Romano suggests he’s not looking close to a move away from PSG, even if Tuchel has him on his radar.

“Chelsea wanted Achraf Hakimi a year ago, and certainly he has always been high on the list of Thomas Tuchel, who is a big fan of Hakimi,” Romano says.

“So far, Paris Saint-Germain have assured that they have not received any proposals.”

Chelsea must have other transfer priorities over Hakimi

As good a player as he is, Hakimi doesn’t make sense as the top priority for Chelsea right now when they have so many issues in other areas of their squad.

The Blues have both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen becoming free agents this summer, so signing one or maybe two centre-backs will surely be something they’re working on.

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Meanwhile, there is also a worrying lack of goals at the other end of the pitch after a poor season from Romelu Lukaku, while the likes of Christian Pulisic and Timo Werner have also been unconvincing.

Hakimi may be worth monitoring for the future, but one imagines Chelsea won’t be doing much more than that for now.