Barcelona Juvenil A clinched the championship on the last day of the season with a 9-0 win over Montecarlo, a rout capped by a hat trick from Egyptian striker Hamza Abdelkarim scored in a little more than a quarter of an hour.
The scoreline left no doubt: Abdelkarim finished with three goals in that short span and Barcelona Juvenil A walked off as champions after the final whistle. The margin and the timing of his goals underlined why the teenager drew immediate attention inside the club.
Reports from Sport say Barcelona has already decided to activate Abdelkarim's buy option, estimated at about 1.5 million euros, with a package of bonuses that could reach 5 million euros more. After the move is completed, Abdelkarim is expected to join Barcelona's reserve team and play with FC Barcelona Athletic rather than leap straight into the first team.
The arc of Abdelkarim's season is as important as the final game. He arrived at Barcelona's academy after complicated administrative steps and, according to club accounts, gradually earned playing time under coach Pol Planas. That gradual integration turned into a more prominent role at the end of the campaign, a run of form that concluded in the title-clinching performance.
The internal debate now is straightforward: the club is prepared to invest to secure him, but his path to the senior side is not guaranteed. Patrick Kluivert framed the situation plainly: "Je ne pense pas que Barcelone traverse une crise au poste d'attaquant, avec Robert Lewandowski et Ferran Torres." He added, "Hamza, lui, est un véritable avant-centre, toutefois il doit encore s'adapter." Kluivert also said the preseason will be decisive for giving young players their first minutes with the first team, if possible.
The tension is between immediate momentum and long-term planning. Sport's report that Barcelona will trigger the buy option moves the paperwork toward a transfer, but Kluivert's caution and the club's existing senior attackers make it clear Abdelkarim's promotion is conditional. The pragmatic route is to place him in the reserves, where the club can monitor his adaptation while protecting him from premature exposure.
That picture resolves one question and opens another: the club looks set to complete the transfer and house Abdelkarim with FC Barcelona Athletic, yet whether he will use preseason to force consideration for first-team minutes remains open. His three-goal burst in just over fifteen minutes proves he can finish chances; adaptation and consistency will determine the next steps.
For now, Abdelkarim moves from delayed arrival to a secured prospect inside Barcelona's system — a young Egyptian striker whose late-season importance earned a sizable bet from the club and a clear, staged plan for development in the reserves before any senior breakthrough.
