Hamza Abdelkarim was undoubtedly the most underrated signing of the summer. The Egyptian forward arrived from Al Ahly for just £1.5 million and immediately made an impact, registering four goals in pre-season to lead the scoring charts of FC Barcelona throughout the preparations.
However, as the 2026-2027 competitive La Liga season got underway, Abdelkarim disappeared from the first team action. The Egyptian played just 5 minutes against Rayo Vallecano and the fans of FC Barcelona struggled to comprehend why the team's in-form attacker was not involved for the Blaugrana. It transpires though, that Hansi Flick and the Barcelona football department knew what they were doing all along.
£15m weakness
According to reports from Spain, Abdelkarim's recent non-involvement at the club was not the result of a planned tactical decision by Flick for an official competitive game. Instead, due to his low release clause, which is an alarmingly small £15million compared to the endless funds available to clubs across Europe.
With the summer transfer window still wide open through August, Barcelona’s technical staff, led by Deco and Flick, feared that unleashing the explosive forward in official La Liga matches would attract immediate attention. A single standout performance could have prompted a wealthy Premier League side to easily trigger his €15 million buyout, snatching him away before his career in Catalonia had even truly begun.
Securing the £150m future
With that hurdle cleared, Barcelona is moving quickly to tie the teenager down to a much higher release clause. Barcelona have officially started contract negotiations with the 2004 born striker, and, according to reports from Spain, they plan on raising the Egyptian's clause to a startling £150million, an enormous 900 per cent increase, from the £15m bargain it currently stands at.
In return, now that the buy-out clause has reached desirable terms for both parties, the youngster is going to be involved in first-team fixtures, also sparking add-on bonuses for his former club, who stand to pick up £750,000 if the striker plays 5 official games in 2026-2027, with at least 45 minutes in each of these matches.
Now that an acceptable contract solution has been found, it will not be surprising when Flick finally unleashes the pre-season sensation into the lethal attack of Barcelona.
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