Barcelona is moving to permanently include the Egyptian national team star sports

In a step that confirms the growing confidence in Arab talent, the Egyptian Al-Ahly club officially announced that the Spanish club Barcelona has submitted a request to activate the final purchase clause for its young striker Hamza Abdel Karim, after the end of his loan period, which extended to the end of the last season 2025-2026.

The “Catalan giant” had loaned the 18-year-old player at the beginning of last February, in a deal that included a clause granting Barcelona the right to retain his services permanently for 1.5 million euros, with additional financial incentives that could reach 3.5 million euros, in addition to the “Club of the Century” in Africa receiving 15% of the value of any future sale of the player.

Remarkable brilliance and an entry ticket to the World Cup

Hamza Abdel Karim succeeded in quickly attracting attention, as he marked his presence by scoring 6 goals with the Barcelona youth team, a performance that did not go unnoticed by the technical staff of the first Egyptian national team, led by Hossam Hassan. He was quick to include him in the “Pharaohs” list participating in the 2026 World Cup currently being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The past weeks witnessed the young striker’s first appearance in the national team’s jersey, as he participated as a substitute in the friendlies of Russia and Brazil, as part of the final preparations for the World Cup in Group 7, which includes the teams of Belgium, Iran and New Zealand.

Flake’s confidence

It is noteworthy that Hamza’s brilliance did not come from nowhere, as the player had caught the spotlight during his participation with the junior national team in the U-17 World Cup hosted by Qatar late last year.

For his part, Barcelona’s coach, the German Hansi Flick, expressed his optimism about the level presented by the player, stressing that he is awaiting his return from the World Cup participation, pointing to the possibility of his involvement in the first team’s training during the summer camp in preparation for the new season 2026-2027, in a step that may open the door for him to participate with the first-class stars in the Catalan club.