New deal on the horizon as Hamza prepares to lead Barca's attack against Elche

FC Barcelona seems to hurry up to ensure the long-term presence of their 18-year-old gem, Hamza Abdelkarim. After his phenomenal last couple of weeks, the club has contacted the Egyptian internationals’ representatives to work on a better deal. The Catalan club does not want anyone else to steal their future away from them and wants to protect their own jewel.

Erasing the risk market

The main and immediate reason that the talks started with such urgency around the Egyptian star is due to his extremely low release clause of 15 million. For the Barca board, it is an enormous market risk and would mean the club can very easily get robbed by other rival European clubs.

The aim of Barca is to increase tenfold the buyout clause, putting 150 million instead of 15 million. However, no definitive agreement has yet been found; the club trusts Hamza completely as fundamental pillar of their future.

Becoming the #9 for the first time against Elche

You can tell that the club prioritizes this young footballer seeing the fact that Barcelona is considering starting him tonight as the #9 for their league game against Elche. He will most likely have Raphinha and Lamine Yamal on either side and Fermin Lopez in the attacking midfielder position.

The club’s decision to play with Hamza as #9 shows full faith from manager Hansi Flick. Hamza himself cut his holidays short this summer after the World Cup to play pre-season friendlies with Barcelona and recorded a spectacular performance with four goals in just four friendlies. FC Barcelona have huge faith in him and with the departure of Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, the stage is set for him to shine.