Egypt's Hamza Abdelkarim, the young Barcelona striker, has earned high praise from Moroccan journalist Achraf Ben Ayad for his disciplined conduct inside the "Spotify Camp Nou" fortress despite his limited appearances.
Ben Ayad's article ran under the headline "Without any signs of discontent" in the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" today, Friday, shining a light on the hidden sides of Abdelkarim's character.
He also revealed a message from his compatriot Achraf Bencharki, the Al Ahly winger and Abdelkarim's former team-mate before the move to Barça last January.
Here is the text of the article:
"Hamza Abdelkarim has left for the Egypt national team camp after playing just 4 minutes with Barcelona in La Liga, but his conduct from day one has been exemplary. He has shown no signs of discontent, he has always given everything he has in training, and he waits for his chance with a great deal of patience. It is not an easy situation for a young player who needs continuity, and he was returning from playing in the World Cup, but the dream of wearing the Barcelona shirt was so great for him that he pledged to himself to fight until the end in order to succeed in the Catalan shirt.
Hamza is a shy person, but he has a big heart. He speaks very little, but his message is usually direct, as happened on the day of his contract renewal, when he did not hesitate to express his readiness to move to the reserve team whenever Flick sees that as the right decision.
Therefore, never expect any bad behaviour from him, for we are talking about a very professional young man who grew up in a sporting family.
I remember the early days when talk of signing him began. Barcelona's interest was serious, and at that time one of Al Ahly's leading players, specifically the Moroccan Bencharki, wrote to me directly to praise Abdelkarim, and he told me: man, he is a player with very great potential, extremely focused and mature. Take care of him, please.
And so the player who has become known to many as "the Haaland of the Nile" proved those words right. He arrived at Barcelona quietly, worked to the utmost of his ability, and in the end made the most of the pre-season preparation period, to secure his place with the first team.
Hamza will continue to fight to achieve his goal, and even if he faces some twists and obstacles along the way, you will never see him with signs of discontent."