Report: The real reason Barcelona’s pre-season standout has not featured prominently so far

Report: The real reason Barcelona’s pre-season standout has not featured prominently so far Hamza Abdelkarim was one of Barcelona’s standout performers in pre-season with four goals to his name, and all signs pointed to him having good prominence under Hansi Flick once the campaign officially began. That, however, has not been the case as the Egyptian star stayed on the bench throughout Barcelona’s clash against Elche and subsequently against Athletic Club. He only came off the bench for four minutes in the team’s most recent win against Rayo Vallecano, and SPORT brings to light the reason he has not been fielded as much as expected. A threatening release clause As confirmed by the Spanish outlet, the decision to keep Hamza out of the first-team dynamics was not out of a lack of quality, but on the contrary, down to the player having much more quality than initially expected. Flick intentionally hid the player. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Signed as a young prospect last season, the player has excelled beyond expectations, making his release clause placed at a mere €15 million look like a steal deal. In a competitive market where strikers are going at exorbitant rates, Barcelona would have surely lost him this summer for that low price. Flick thus decided to keep his trump card hidden until the threat of the transfer window passed. Contract will be revisited Now that the transfer window is closed, Barcelona will sit down and discuss terms with Hamza’s entourage once more to improve his contract and safeguard his future. The idea is to bump up his release clause to €150 million . An improved contract is around the corner. (Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images) Beyond that, there are also several variables that Barcelona could be forced to pay the striker’s former club Al Ahly based on his involvement in games. By holding him away from starting, the club have also deferred those payments. In theory, Barcelona have to pay the Asian team €750,000 when the player plays at least 45 minutes in five games. As games get added, that sum could rise to €2 million. Beyond that, there are even goal-based bonuses with Barcelona bound to pay €300,000 when he reaches five goals and progressively more as he adds on to that tally until Barcelona pay out €1.5 million.