Barcelona make initial moves to sign 17-year-old attacking prodigy – report

As reported last week, FC Barcelona had set their sights on Al-Ahly teenage prodigy Hamza Abdelkarim.

Just 17 years old, the young striker has emerged as one of the most exciting prospects in African football and the Catalans seemingly have taken note of his promise and potential.

Barcelona make initial moves for Abdelkarim

Building on the early reports, journalist Achraf Ben Ayad now claims that Barcelona’s interest in Abdelkarim is official and genuine.

In fact, the La Liga champions have already made initial moves to explore the signing of the 17-year-old striker.

A centre-forward by trade, the 17-year-old starlet has made two senior appearances for Al-Ahly thus far – one each in the Egyptian Premier League and the CAF Champions League.

Meanwhile, Abdelkarim has bagged 12 goals in 19 matches for the Egyptian U-17 national team. Two of those goals came in the FIFA U-17 World Cup from four games.

Barcelona have seen enough to be convinced that the youngster has a lot of future potential and are serious about the possibility of signing him. To that end, some moves have also been made already.

However, it must be noted that the Catalan heavyweights are not the only club interested in Abdelkarim, with several European giants also following him, with Manchester City and Bayern Munich among his suitors.

But Barcelona’s track record and success-rate with youngsters in recent years may end up giving them an edge over the competitors as they look to land Abdelkarim’s signing from Al-Ahly.