Madrid, Sep 11 (IANS) Spanish La Liga champion FC Barcelona announced on Friday that they have reached an agreement for the 18-year-old Egyptian international striker Hamza Abdelkarim to sign a new contract until the end of June 2030.
The news, published on the club’s website, comes only months after Barcelona made Abdelkarim’s move to the Camp Nou permanent after he initially joined on loan from Egyptian team Al-Ahly.
The player formed part of Egypt’s squad at the 2026 World Cup, where he became the youngest Egyptian player to ever feature at the tournament.
He was then called into Barcelona’s squad for pre-season training and impressed, scoring four goals in preparation games, before making his La Liga debut on August 31 in a 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano, reports Xinhua.
One reason Barcelona wanted Abdelkarim to sign a new contract is that his initial deal after joining from Al-Ahly left his release clause at 15 million euros (17.4 million U.S. dollars), and given his progress in recent months, the club believes that is too low and makes the youngster a tempting target for its rivals.
Meanwhile, the fifth round of La Liga matches begin in a hectic week in which teams will play three games before the first international break of the year, a run that could further underline Barcelona’s control of the table.
Valencia’s Carlos Corberan is among the coaches whose position could come under pressure as he takes his side to Sevilla.
Sunday’s painful 5-0 home defeat to Barcelona left Valencia bottom of La Liga with one point from four games, and Corberan also has to contend with a lengthy injury list against a Sevilla side that has two wins and a draw from its opening matches.
Elche coach Martin Anselmi also has cause for concern as he prepares to take his side to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. Athletic have begun to find their rhythm under new coach Edin Terzic and beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 last weekend, while Elche have conceded 12 goals in their opening four games.
Anselmi needs to tighten his defense against a rival that will press high up the pitch; otherwise he could be in for another difficult afternoon, and Elche owner Christian Bragarnik is not known for his patience with coaches.
Real Madrid are also at home on Saturday, with Jose Mourinho again likely to rotate his squad against Rayo Vallecano. Mourinho’s side has shown tremendous firepower in attack, but last weekend’s defeat to Betis and a chaotic Champions League win at home to Inter Milan highlighted the need to find greater defensive balance.
–IANS
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