Kylian Mbappe has labelled former Chelsea target and current PSG star Achraf Hakimi as the 'best' right-back in the world amid the Blues' current wing-back injury crisis.
Hakimi, 23, decided to snub a move to west London in favour of a switch to the French capital and that decision hadn't hurt Chelsea initially with Reece James' electric start to the 2021/22 campaign but the Englishman's long-term hamstring injury has left many ruing the decision the Moroccan star made last summer.
Despite numerous bids, the player's insistence of joining Mauricio Pochettino's project on an initial £51.3million deal prevented the ideal combination of James and Hakimi for the right-wing-back position coming to fruition.
A decision for the west Londoners that in the long run has proved costly with their drop in form largely down to the squad decimation found in defence with the injuries to key figures like Ben Chilwell and James.
For Hakimi though, he has come out on the right side of that tough decision with the six goal contributions racked up for the Parisians that has gone some way to having them 11 points clear of Nice in second.
On top of this, his attacking prowess this season as demonstrated by various metrics on FBref.com, including recording the seventh most crosses into the penalty area (12) coupled with racking up an overall expected assists (xA) rate of 3.7, makes it no surprise to see the defender star at the current Africa Cup of Nations tournament that is taking place in Cameroon.
Just recently, the former Inter and Borussia Dortmund star showed his world-class capabilities with his wonder free-kick strike against Malawi in the round of 16.
A goal that has now set up a mouth watering quarter-final clash against Mohamed Salah and Egypt, who themselves scrapped through courtesy of an Eric Bailly missed penalty in the shootout against Ivory Coast following a 0-0 draw.
After his 70th minute strike against the African minnows, Mbappe was quick to take to social media to heap huge praise on his club teammate but at the same time, highlight the mistake Chelsea made in not trying to convince the player in question that their project was the right one for his career.
Mbappe said on his Twitter account @KMbappe: "ACHRAF HAKIMI.
"BEST RB IN THE WORLD.
"GOOD NIGHT GUYS. [followed by a waving hands emoji]."
football.london understands that in their own quest to sign a top full-back this month to provide cover for the aforementioned first choice options, the Blues are looking like falling short after continuous struggles to recall Emerson Palmieri from his loan stay in Lyon.
