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Hakimi has been a star for Borussia Dortmund this season, having joined on a two-year loan from LaLiga giants Madrid in 2018.

However, Dortmund confirmed on Saturday that Hakimi would not be staying on permanently, with Thomas Meunier having already been brought in to bolster Lucien Favre's options at right-back.

Now, Hakimi appears to be set to move to Inter, with Marotta confirming reports that a deal is close to being struck, with sporting director Piero Ausilio handling the deal for the Serie A club.

"We are in an advanced phase of negotiation and we see what will happen in the next few days," Marotta told Sky Italia prior to Inter's clash with Parma on Sunday.

"I want there to be great respect towards those players who are working and playing in this complex period. Then we also look to the future and for the future we want to raise the bar.

"[It's a] very, very important operation. I must say that Ausilio did an excellent job. Now we have yet to finish everything, but Ausilio has done everything in the past two months and tomorrow will be an important day."

Morocco full-back Hakimi, 21, scored nine goals in all competitions for Dortmund in 2019-20.