Suffering of the two talents: Hamza Abdelkarim and Bessio in a final test of patience to convince Flick | Goal.com

Veröffentlicht am 15 Sep 2026 | Lesezeit: 2 Minuten

Just 21 days separate them on their birth certificates, but their paths within Barcelona are heading in two different directions, united by one bitter reality: the difficulty of carving a way into a squad brimming with stars. 

This is the story of Egypt's Hamza Abdelkarim and Belgium's Jesse Bisiwu, two talents who train daily with the first team but are still knocking hard on Hansi Flick's door.

Barcelona chose two different strategies to manage their jewels. Hamza Abdelkarim, born on 1 January 2008, and Jesse Bisiwu, born on 22 January of the same year, report daily to Flick. 

The club, though, has drawn a line between them. Hamza does not feature with the reserve side on matchdays and stays within the first-team squad, while Bisiwu is asked to gain experience with Barcelona Atlètic.

Handling talents like this demands enormous patience from the players and their families. Flick has shown he prefers merit to age, yet the numbers so far are harsh.

Hamza Abdelkarim has played just 4 official minutes this season across 6 matches, 5 in La Liga and one in the Champions League. They came against Rayo Vallecano.

Bisiwu was supposed to make his first appearance with Barcelona Atlètic last Sunday in Logroño. A poor artificial grass surface put paid to that, sparking wide debate within the club over its suitability for play.

While he waits for the rotation Flick promised, according to the Spanish newspaper "Sport", Hamza's situation looks better in theory as he is always around the first team. But he runs into a huge attacking wall. Ahead of him in the out-and-out striker role sits Raphinha, now the indispensable "decisive attacker", and Gabriel Jesús with his rich record.

Logic says that if Flick rotates on Wednesday against Racing Santander, Jesús gets the chance first. He has played only 16 minutes so far: 9 minutes at Mestalla and 6 minutes in the Champions League against Feyenoord, during which he scored a goal.

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Bisiwu's path looks more complicated. Flick wants him to progress with the reserves first, and even if he is promoted, he will find Gordon and Adjei-Emmi ahead of him on the left wing, the position the Belgian prefers to play with his weaker foot.

Two different paths, then, but both confirm the club's absolute confidence in them. Barcelona renewed Hamza Abdelkarim's contract until 30 June 2030 with a huge release clause of 150 million euros, and paid 8.5 million euros to sign Bisiwu. The confidence is there. Now it is time for patience to prove itself.

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