Barcelona have continued their praise of the young Egyptian forward Hamza Abdelkarim, after he stole the spotlight during the emphatic 5-2 win over Basel, in the friendly that brought the two sides together as part of the Catalan club's preparations for the new season.
The 18-year-old came on at the start of the second half in place of Anthony Gordon. He needed only three minutes to leave his mark, scoring Barcelona's second goal and underlining once more the goalscoring instinct that caught the eye across pre-season.
Barcelona celebrated the Egyptian's performance on their official "X" account, posting a picture of Hamza after his goal alongside the words: "Hamza has a natural goalscoring instinct. Plenty of goals in his locker."
That message speaks to the club's confidence in the player's potential. He became one of the biggest surprises of pre-season with the levels he produced in the friendlies.
Hamza Abdelkarim featured in every one of Barcelona's warm-up fixtures before the campaign, boosting his chances of breaking into the first team. Ferran Torres has left for Paris Saint-Germain, and coach Hansi Flick's squad has lacked an out-and-out striker so far.
A new challenge now awaits the Egyptian, with Barcelona set to face his former club Al Ahly next Wednesday at the Camp Nou in the Joan Gamper Trophy.