Paris Saint-Germain s Achraf Hakimi hailed team-mate Kylian Mbappe as one of the best in the world and hopes the forward will stay at the club.
However, the Morocco international said he will support Mbappe in whatever decision he makes at the end of the season, with the striker s contract set to expire in June.
Across all competitions, Mbappe has recorded 31 goals and 18 assists – both club-highs – in 39 appearances this season as PSG close on the Ligue 1 title.
The club suffered a disappointing Champions League exit to Real Madrid last month, however, furthering speculation that Mbappe could swap Paris for Los Blancos when his deal expires.
Hakimi is desperate to see Mbappe extend his five-year stay in the French capital.
Mbappe is one of the best in the world and he is my friend, Hakimi told Telefoot.
I want him to stay here, he knows. He will decide what he thinks is best for his career, and I will support him.
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English)
Holding a 12-point lead at the top of Ligue 1, PSG can take a huge step towards claiming an eighth league title in 10 years when they face second-placed Marseille in Sunday s Classique, and Hakimi highlighted the importance of winning that clash to appease the club s disgruntled fans.
Indeed, despite PSG s last 11 Ligue 1 goals being scored by the brilliant attacking trio of Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar, the latter duo have faced jeers from their own supporters since the Parisians 3-2 aggregate defeat to Madrid.
I know there is a particular expectation and a lot of rivalry [between PSG and Marseille], Hakimi added. I experienced it the first time at the Velodrome [a 0-0 draw in October]. It is a game that can decide the fate of the championship.
Our fans deserve this victory and this tenth league title [in the club s history]. We have had a very bad few weeks.
It s hard when your fans don t support you. Winning against Marseille is the best we can do to keep them cheering us on until the end of the season.
Over a month has passed since the team s Champions League collapse at the Santiago Bernabeu, where a Karim Benzema hat-trick eliminated PSG after Mbappe had netted once in either leg, but Hakimi says he still cannot explain their European exit.
It is difficult to realise that we are out of the Champions League, he added. We had the mechanisms to get ahead. The truth is that I cannot explain it. Even today, when I think about it, I don t understand it. I understand that the fans are sad, so are we.
At this level, small details make the difference, we have to correct them next year. That s what will make us champions.
PSG enter Sunday s crucial clash with Marseille having lost just one of their last 19 Ligue 1 meetings with their rivals, recording 14 wins during that run and keeping clean sheets in five of the previous seven.
