After being frozen on the bench: Flick sticks to his decision regarding Hamza Abdelkarim
A clear path for the Egyptian player
Barcelona have settled on Hamza Abdelkarim's future. The young Egyptian striker will follow the road map the club drew up for him, unchanged.
The Spanish newspaper "Sport" said: "Despite Hamza not playing a single minute in the first two rounds of La Liga, the confidence of the Catalan club and the coaching staff in the player appears absolute."
Sport noted that the 18-year-old finished the summer as the team's top scorer, showing off his full potential in pre-season. Hansi Flick still rates him highly and views him as an interesting option off the bench in the first-team attack.
Physically, the player has come on remarkably. Already an out-and-out striker with a strong frame, he has followed a tailored physical programme whose results are now visible in the noticeable development of his upper and lower body.
His run with Egypt's senior side at the last World Cup fed into that progress. He played the closing minutes of most matches, which sped up his competitive maturity and handed Flick a player ready for the elite level, even if the club knows he still has stages of his development to go through.
Sport understands the management are set on keeping the striker in the "Barcelona Atletic" shirt, where he was registered with the number 29 at the start of the season. That move was designed from day one to guarantee Hamza match rhythm whenever he isn't playing for the first team.
Barcelona know his minutes under Flick will dip at points during the season. That is why they see time with Juliano Belletti's side as the ideal way to keep the 18-year-old's development ticking over.
On a related note, the newspaper confirmed the latest word: the club are working to renew the Egyptian's contract.
The deal Hamza signed when he joined the youth team no longer fits his situation. The Catalan management plan to hand him a pay rise in line with his new role and to bump up his release clause significantly from its current 15 million euros, warding off the temptations of foreign clubs.
