Young Egyptian striker Hamza Abdelkarim continued to make a strong impression at Barcelona after scoring again in the Catalan side’s 5-2 friendly victory over Swiss club Basel.

The 18-year-old needed only a few minutes after coming on at the start of the second half to make his mark. He reacted quickly to Karim Adeyemi’s delivery inside the box and finished with a direct touch, highlighting his instinctive movement and ability to exploit space in the penalty area.

A Third Goal and a Clear Message

Abdelkarim has now scored three goals during Barcelona’s preseason campaign, following his brace against Birmingham City, making him one of the young players to attract significant attention during the preparations for the new season.

His contribution against Basel went beyond the goal. During his 45 minutes on the pitch, he created a scoring opportunity for a teammate and remained active with his movement around the penalty area.

His statistics also underlined his efficiency. He touched the ball 15 times, completed 8 of 9 passes with around 89% accuracy, reached the ball four times inside Basel’s penalty area and successfully completed all of his attempted dribbles. One report gave him a rating of 7.5 for his performance.

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From Al Ahly to the Barcelona Test

The promising preseason run comes after Abdelkarim joined Barcelona’s youth setup on loan from Egyptian giants Al Ahly in February before Barcelona activated the option to make the transfer permanent this summer.

The manner in which he scored against Basel also drew comparisons with traditional penalty-box strikers. Abdelkarim timed his movement inside the area before finishing the cross directly, displaying the instincts expected from a classic number nine.

The young Egyptian will have another major opportunity to impress Barcelona supporters when the Catalan club faces Al Ahly on Wednesday, August 19, in the Joan Gamper Trophy.

The match will be particularly significant for Abdelkarim as he faces his former club while representing the team he is now trying to establish himself with.

With Barcelona’s official season approaching, Abdelkarim is using every opportunity to show that he is more than a promising young talent and could gradually move closer to the first-team picture at one of the world’s biggest clubs.