Fabrizio Romano, the Italian journalist famed for his ability to break news on transfers, spoke to 433 about the impact of the Corona Virus on the transfer market and the potential deals that are still on the table for this summer. One such deal was regarding Achraf Hakimi and his potential return to Real Madrid. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Moroccan will return to the Bernabeu and is expected to sign a new five year deal with the club.

Zidane has told the player that he will be very important and insisted on his return. Achraf has reportedly already accepted this deal and feels he will play a vital role next season for Real Madrid. Zinedine Zidane was the manager that gave Achraf Hakimi his start in professional football and promoted him directly from Castilla to the first team as a teenager. Achraf has always spoke positively about Zidane and feels indebted to the French manager.

In the same interview, Fabrizio Romano spoke about the difficulty clubs will now have valuing players in the transfer market. It will be very difficult to pull off a €100+ million deal. All clubs are currently without revenue during the Corona virus pandemic and values will likely fluctuate back to pre-Neymar to PSG type levels. Like Achraf, Real Madrid can revolutionize their team just through loanee’s alone, mitigating their need to spend large sums of money on new talent. The pandemic may end up accelerating Real Madrid’s timeline with their youth.