Barcelona very close to signing 18-year-old striker with ‘huge potential’ – Romano | OneFootball

The signing of Joao Cancelo and the departures of Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Pedro ‘Dro’ Fernandez are expected to be the only major transfer activities taking place in the first-team sphere at FC Barcelona in the current window.

However, the Blaugrana are working to strengthen their academy and reserve team ranks with some signings in January.

One such deal pertains to 18-year-old Al Ahly striker Hamza Abdelkarim, who has been on the club’s radar for some time now.

Hamza Abdelkarim deal very close

Providing an update on the situation surrounding the young striker, Fabrizio Romano reports that Barcelona are very close to completing the signing of Abdelkarim from Al Ahly.

There are some minor details that need to be worked out between the two clubs, but the deal is on track after a few hiccups and is expected to be completed soon.

Set to arrive in Barcelona soon. (Picture credit: Instagram/@hamzabdelkarim)

Abdelkarim will be arriving at Barcelona on loan until the end of the season, with the Catalans retaining a buy option worth €3 million plus €5 million in variables.

The 18-year-old centre-forward will not be a first-team signing, but instead will be joining the reserve team, Barça Atletic, for the second half of the season.

However, having tracked him closely since the U17 World Cup, Barcelona believe that the teenager has huge potential.

So, it might not come as a surprise if they decide to pull the trigger on the permanent purchase clause come summer.

For Hamza, it was a dream to secure a move to Barcelona and he had said yes to the move very early. But some hurdles in negotiations slowed down the operation. But everything is now back on track, and he will sign for Barça Atletic very soon.