Will he join the Champions League squad? The truth about registering Hamza Abdelkarim with Barcelona's first team

When will the Egyptian star be eligible to play in Europe?

Press reports have stirred up controversy over the past few hours, claiming Egypt's Hamza Abdelkarim had been registered on Barcelona's first-team squad list. Some read the move as a prelude to regular appearances under German manager Hansi Flick.

Abdelkarim's name has indeed appeared on the official website of the Spanish league association, LaLiga. That fuelled reports of his move from the reserve team's list to the Catalan club's first team, a step that would ease his inclusion in the European squad.

Scrutinise the details of the registration, though, and the matter is not as it seems. The player's appearance on the LaLiga website does not necessarily mean he has become part of the first team's main list.

A decisive decision: Barcelona reward Hamza Abdelkarim

The number 29 shirt reveals the truth

Hamza Abdelkarim's arrival on the "La Liga" website carries a telling detail. He has been handed the number 29 shirt. That places him on the reserve list tied to the first team rather than the main list, which covers the players officially registered with numbers 1 to 25.

Spanish league rules keep the main first-team list to numbers 1 to 25. Reserve players, meanwhile, can carry numbers between 26 and 50 once they are registered within the reserve list.

Abdelkarim's appearance on the "La Liga" website marks an important step. It does not yet mean he has become a definitively registered player in Barcelona's main first-team list.

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September to decide Hamza's future

The picture could still shift over the coming days. Barcelona may officially register Hamza Abdelkarim in the first team's main squad list once the summer transfer window shuts, particularly if they fail to land a new striker before the mercato ends.

Promotion to the main squad is not a necessity, though. Things could carry on exactly as they are, with Hamza staying part of the reserve setup while remaining available to the first team under the competition's regulations.

Nothing will be settled until the summer market closes on 1 September. Only then will Barcelona decide whether to hand Hamza Abdelkarim a spot in their main squad or keep leaning on him within the reserves.

An official promotion to the first team would see his shirt number change to somewhere between 1 and 25.

Another sign from Barcelona

Another clue confirms that Hamza Abdel Karim's registration in the first-team squad has not yet gone through. The official first-team list on FC Barcelona's website still carries no mention of the Egyptian forward.

Put accurately, then: Hamza Abdel Karim shows up as registered with the Spanish League association on a list connected to the first team, but Barcelona have not yet registered him in their main first-team squad.

These closing days of the transfer window will decide the player's future. He either moves up to the main squad once the mercato shuts, or he stays where he is on the reserve list.

What about European participation?

One question towers over the rest for Hamza Abdelkarim: when will he be eligible to feature for Barcelona in the Champions League? The answer hinges on which list the player ends up on with the Catalan side, whether domestically or in the records of European football's governing body.

Register Hamza Abdelkarim in their main first-team squad and add him to the Champions League list under UEFA's regulations, and Barcelona will face no problem playing him in the continental competition, as long as he meets the rest of the registration and eligibility conditions.

Keep him in the reserve squad, though, and he cannot join the European list. UEFA regulations allow only eight reserve-team players onto the main list "A", provided they have spent at least three seasons with the club or another club in the same association. Hamza does not qualify.

The reserve list "B" offers little hope either, even though the number permitted is unlimited.

Under the regulations, a player can go on list "B" if he has been eligible to play for the club continuously for two years since turning 15, or for a total period of three years, with only one loan spell of no more than a year to a club within the same association permitted.

Hamza fails that test too. He joined Barcelona only last January, so he has not completed the required period to benefit from the list "B" exception.

His European fate therefore rests largely on what Barcelona decide about their main squad. Register him in a way that puts him on the Champions League list, and he plays in the competition. Leave him in the reserve squad without meeting the conditions of list "B", and he sits out Europe this season.

Every day now matters for the Egyptian forward. The picture will sharpen once the transfer window shuts and Barcelona settle their final squad, then again at the deadline for submitting the European lists to UEFA, where the player must appear on some list to become eligible for the Champions League.

The transfer window in Spain closes on 1 September, while the deadline for submitting the European list falls on 2 September.