Barcelona have made up their mind on Hamza Abdelkarim – and they are not blinking.
No loan. No late change of plan. The 18-year-old Egyptian striker will follow the exact roadmap the club drew for him months ago, even if he has not played a single minute in the opening two rounds of La Liga.
Inside the club, the message is clear: patience, not panic.
Spanish outlet Sport reports that confidence in Abdelkarim from both the board and Hansi Flick’s staff “appears absolute”. That stance has survived a quiet start to the competitive season because those in charge are still looking at what he did in the summer, not just what the team sheet says in August.
He ended pre-season as Barcelona’s top scorer, a teenager finishing the summer as one of the standout stories of Flick’s first weeks in charge. The German coach has not cooled on him. On the contrary, he continues to see Abdelkarim as a live option off the bench for the first team, a different profile of striker who can change the rhythm of a game.
The club believe his body now matches his talent. Abdelkarim arrived as a classic No 9 with a strong frame; he now looks like a modern centre-forward sculpted for elite football. A tailored physical programme has thickened his upper body, sharpened his legs and, in the eyes of the staff, turned potential into something more robust and repeatable.
His time with Egypt’s senior national team at the last World Cup accelerated that process. He did not start, but he did not just make up the numbers either. Those closing minutes in most matches, under tournament pressure, hardened his decision-making and tempo. Barcelona feel Flick has inherited a player who has already tasted the pace of the elite, even if they accept he still has several steps left in his development.
The plan now hinges on one key detail: his shirt.
Abdelkarim is officially registered with Barcelona Atletic, wearing the No 29. That was never a demotion. It was the mechanism the club chose from day one to guarantee him competitive minutes whenever the first team cannot offer them. When Flick’s rotation tightens, Juliano Belletti’s side will keep the engine running.
Barcelona are under no illusions. They know his first-team minutes will ebb and flow over the season. There will be weeks when he barely warms up on the touchline. That is exactly why they see the second team as essential, not optional, to his growth – a way to maintain rhythm, confidence and sharpness without breaking the pathway to the senior squad.
Behind the scenes, the board are moving to protect that pathway. Sport confirms that Barcelona are already working on renewing Abdelkarim’s contract, a logical next step for a club that has decided this is not just a promising youngster, but a project they intend to see through.
The question now is not whether they believe in him. It is when that belief turns into regular minutes at the highest level.
