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The chatter among Barcelona fans this summer was all about who would be the club’s next star striker after Robert Lewandowski – the team’s top scorer for the past four seasons – left to play in the United States.
The 18-year-old Egyptian, Hamza Abdelkarim, was not an answer anyone would have given at the beginning of preseason. This time last year, he had only played a single game at senior level, and that was for Cairo giants Al Ahly.
But as Barca’s dogged pursuit of Argentinian striker Julian Alvarez from rivals Atletico Madrid ended in failure, and the club only managed to secure a 10 million euros ($11.5m) move for Gabriel Jesus on the transfer window’s deadline day on September 1, Abdelkarim emerged from obscurity to dominate headlines in Catalonia and Egypt.
Abdelkarim’s four goals in five games made him Barcelona’s top scorer during preseason. He even scored against his boyhood club, Al Ahly, in the Joan Gamper Trophy – the fixture that is used to introduce the team to the fans and inaugurate the league season – but chose not to celebrate the goal as a mark of respect.
“Hamza offers something different,” Adrian Healey, ESPN’s La Liga match commentator, told Al Jazeera.
Fans in Egypt and Barcelona have taken to calling him the Egyptian Erling Haaland on account of his physical prowess and presence in the box.
When the striker caught the eye of FC Barcelona, a low-risk, low-commitment agreement was struck in the winter transfer window with Al Ahly to bring him to Spain. A six-month loan period was cut in half due to paperwork issues, but Abdelkarim made up for lost time by scoring goals; not for the first team, or even the reserves, but the Under-19 team – netting six times in 11 games.
Abdelkarim had also impressed for Egypt at the 2025 U17 World Cup, grabbing two goals and an assist in four appearances.
Despite the lack of top-level experience, Abdelkarim had done enough to prompt Egypt national team manager Hossam Hassan to take a gamble by selecting the uncapped teenager for his World Cup 2026 squad.
The veteran Mostafa Mohammed was left at home in favour of Abdelkarim, who went on to make his debut against Brazil in a friendly and featured in four World Cup matches.
On the advice of Mohamed Salah, the striker decided not to take a vacation after the World Cup and returned to Barcelona immediately after Egypt were knocked out by Argentina in the round of 16.
“Mohamed Salah is always talking to me, and I follow everything he says. He is an example to be followed, and the success he achieved is not by accident,” he told Egypt’s OnSport after FC Barcelona lifted the Joan Gamper Trophy.
The exposure to a professional like Salah has only served to supercharge Abdelkarim’s development.
Barcelona had already seen enough and decided to make his loan move permanent in June, paying Al Ahly 1.5 million euros ($1.75m) for his services.
“I am not surprised at all in Hamza’s [emergence],” Ismail el-Hamalawy, a footballing content creator who has closely followed the young striker’s journey, told Al Jazeera, citing his World Cup performances.
“He is the striker Egypt has been missing for two decades,” el-Hamalawy told Al Jazeera.
The only other Egyptian-born player to have played in La Liga was Mido, who came through the ranks at Zamalek before leaving Egypt as a 17-year-old in 2000 and played in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy and England.
At the turn of the century, most Egyptians followed Mido’s progress through newspapers and local talk shows. Now, Egyptians can easily track Abdelkarim’s development in real time online.
The interest has been so profound that Barcelona signed a surprise sponsorship with EgyptAir through the 2028-29 season this week as both entities look to leverage the image of Egypt’s next great footballer for commercial gain.
The club is now scrambling to improve his contract so that a larger buyout clause can be installed. As it stands, the 18-year-old could be poached by a rival club for only 15 million euros ($17m), so the Catalan giants are looking to place a 150 million euros ($174m) buyout clause to ward off any potential suitors.
An unused substitute in the first two matches of the season, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has repeatedly told the media that the striker’s time will come.
“He deserves to play, and he will play,” Flick said. “I see him improving day by day. He has the right attitude and mentality.”
With such little top-level experience, it could have been considered irresponsible of the club to give the youngster too much responsibility too soon.
“He will have to [be] patient, but he will get minutes,” Healey said. “[But] I am not sure the signing of [Gabriel] Jesus changes much for him, as I see [Jesus] as just a stopgap solution. Abdelkarim might have had less minutes had Alvarez signed.”
On August 31, Abdelkarim replaced Raphina in the final five minutes of Barcelona’s 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano.
With an official debut out of the way, the striker can focus on clearing the next hurdle – scoring his first official goal for the La Liga champions.
