Barcelona keep Hamza Abdelkarim involved as Flick prepares for Basel test

Hansi Flick has again turned to Barcelona Atletic players to bolster first-team training as Barcelona continue preparations for their upcoming friendly against Swiss side Basel on Sunday.

The German coach maintained his policy of involving a large number of reserve-team players during Tuesday morning’s session at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, with the first team still short of several senior players.

According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, French defender Jules Kounde returned to training after completing his participation in the World Cup and joined the rest of the squad as normal.

One of the main talking points was the continued involvement of young Egyptian forward Hamza Abdelkarim, who trained with the first team for a second consecutive day.

Abdelkarim had been one of only four players to take part in Monday’s session, alongside goalkeepers Iker Rodriguez and Aron Yaakobishvili and defender Alvaro Cortes. His continued presence suggests Flick and his coaching staff are increasingly keen to assess his ability at senior level.

The repeated call-up offers Abdelkarim a valuable opportunity to work with Barcelona’s first-team group before the new season begins. It also gives him the chance to gain experience in an environment containing more established players, with a number of Barcelona’s regular first-team names still absent.

He was joined in Tuesday’s training session by Xavi Espart, Ebrima Tunkara, Jordi Pesquer, Oriol Goren, Brian Farinas, Tommy Marques, Jofre Torrents, Guil Fernandez and Toni Fernandez.

Barcelona had regained the services of Juan Garcia, Eric Garcia and Anthony Gordon on Monday after the trio trained separately on Sunday.

However, the Spanish quintet of Pedri, Pau Cubarsi, Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres remain outside group training. There is also continued uncertainty over Torres’ future after Barcelona rejected an initial €40m offer from Paris Saint-Germain for the forward.

The squad are due to continue their work this afternoon as Flick looks to improve the players’ physical readiness ahead of the next stage of pre-season.

Barcelona will then travel to Switzerland to face Basel in a friendly on 16 August at St. Jakob-Park. The match is expected to provide another opportunity for Flick to assess the younger players who have been brought into first-team preparations, including Abdelkarim, while the club’s senior internationals continue to return at different stages.