Hamza Abdelkarim, an 18-year-old, 1.82m tall Egyptian forward who plays for Al Ahly SC (he made his debut in January 2025) and has been dubbed "the new Salah" in Egypt, is close to signing for FC Barcelona. Egyptian journalist Sayed Nabawy reports that Hamza Abdelkarim and Al Ahly SC have agreed to extend his contract for one more season before signing with Barcelona. Lamine Yamal's dad goes full "gangster rapper" in hilarious lip sync video The African footballer would take the place of Mamadou Mbacke, who is finalising his move to St. Louis City in MLS. Barcelona would have a 1.5 million euro purchase option for Hamza Abdelkarim Barcelona, who set their sights on Hamza at the U17 World Cup and the U17 Africa Cup of Nations, have a purchase option of 1.5 million euros, plus 5 million in variables, for the Egyptian footballing pearl. By extending Hamza Abdelkarim's (2008) contract for another season, Al Ahly SC ensures control over the striker in the event that Barcelona does not exercise its purchase option. With this operation, Barcelona is ahead of teams such as Bayern Munich, Olympique Lyon and AC Milan.
