Barça Bets Big on Hamza Abdel Karim: Loan-to-Buy Signals a Bright First-Team Path

The Catalan club has decided to activate the purchase option.

Barcelona continues its strategic moves to strengthen the reserves squad, signing the young Egyptian striker Hamza Abdel Karim, 18, on loan from Al Ahly during the winter transfer window, a move that underlines the club's big bet on his technical abilities and future.

And the Catalan newspaper Sport reported on Thursday that the player's quality surprised Barça staff in his first training sessions, prompting the sports management to insert a special clause that would facilitate a finalizing transfer even if he does not meet the required number of appearances, given that registering the player administratively could be costly, potentially delaying his official debut until the end of March at the earliest.

Nevertheless, Barça will secure the agreement should the final decision be taken, and there are no doubts within the management, given what the player is delivering in training.

Purchase Option

The contract includes a clause obliging Barcelona to activate the purchase option for Hamza Abdel Karim if he plays more than 45 minutes in six official matches with the reserve team, in exchange for 1.5 million euros to Al Ahly, plus 3 million more as variables tied to the player's future achievements.

And the peculiarity of this clause lies in Barcelona's unilateral ability to trigger it even if the player does not participate in those matches, due to complexities of registering foreign players in the Barcelona Atlètic category, which raises doubts about his ability to play this season, while the club remains open to featuring him in some key youth-team matches if procedures are completed in time.

Barcelona's Promise

Indications inside the Catalan club show a clear bet on Hamza; Barcelona told the player that the intention goes beyond a simple signing, even without satisfying the match appearances condition, as a near-certain place awaits him in the first-team preparations next summer, given the high regard of the technical staff for his abilities and teammates' astonishment at his training level.

Sport added that Abdel Karim is the clearest deal, one that the reserve team’s sporting management sealed in January, with the belief that he could become a major asset for Barcelona in the future.

Punchline: Aim small, sign big—Barça's version of a clearance sale.

Punchline 2: If he trains this well, even the calendar will need a red pen.