Yassir Zabiri faces boyhood club FC Barcelona after stunning start with Racing Santander

Yassir Zabiri will face the club he supported as a child on Wednesday, when Racing Santander visit FC Barcelona at Camp Nou. But the 21-year-old Morocco striker will arrive as one of La Liga’s early-season sensations rather than a spectator, having scored five goals in five league matchdays.

Zabiri began the campaign on the bench for Racing’s opening two matches before making his first start against Elche at the end of August. He responded with a hat-trick in a 3-2 victory.

Two weeks later, he scored twice against Alaves to secure a 2-1 win for the Cantabrians. His five goals have come in 280 minutes of La Liga football.

The impact is a sharp turnaround from last season, when Zabiri scored only four times during a campaign split between Famalicao and Rennes.

Stade Rennais had signed him for about 10 million euros after he helped Morocco win the FIFA U-20 World Cup, finishing as the tournament’s leading scorer. However, he made only six Ligue 1 appearances for the French club, playing 42 minutes in total during a difficult first half-season.

Stade Rennais loaned him to Racing Santander in the summer without an option to buy. Zabiri had previously said the Spanish league was better suited to his qualities after finding it harder to adapt in France.

His mobile style, ability to attack space behind defensive lines and movement into open areas have quickly become prominent features of Racing’s play.

A meeting with his heroes

The fixture carries added significance because of Zabiri’s long-standing admiration for FC Barcelona. He has described Lionel Messi as his “role model” and also looked up to Luis Suarez.

“​​My goal is to play for Barca. Since I was little, I have liked Barca a lot,” Zabiri said.

Wednesday’s match will therefore allow him to play at the home of the club he has dreamed of joining, while attempting to cause problems for them on the pitch.

Unconfirmed reports on social media have added to the intrigue. Accounts including Transfer News Live, claiming to relay information from German publication Kicker, have suggested FC Barcelona considered signing Zabiri during the summer transfer window.

According to those reports, manager Hansi Flick ultimately rejected the move because he felt the Morocco forward did not yet have the technical and tactical qualities required to establish himself at Barcelona.

It remains unclear whether the story is accurate. FC Barcelona were looking for a striker, but Zabiri had just endured six difficult months at Rennes despite his potential. Regardless, his form has since taken him to another level, with Real Betis, Villarreal and Real Sociedad reportedly monitoring his situation ahead of the next transfer window.

The match comes on the eve of Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi announcing his squad for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Gabon and Lesotho. A major performance at Camp Nou could make it even harder to overlook Zabiri for those fixtures.