Yassir Zabiri’s Barcelona challenge arrives after remarkable Racing Santander rise

Yassir Zabiri will walk into the stadium he dreamed of visiting as a child on Wednesday, but the Racing Santander forward will arrive at Camp Nou intent on proving a point rather than simply admiring FC Barcelona.

The 21-year-old Morocco striker has emerged as one of the early stars of the Liga season, scoring five goals in five matchdays. His rapid breakthrough has been all the more unexpected given that he started Santander’s first two matches on the bench.

Zabiri made his first league start against Elche at the end of August and responded with a hat-trick as the Racing won 3-2. Two weeks later, he struck twice against Alaves in a 2-1 victory, securing three points for the Cantabrians.

He has scored five times in 280 minutes of Liga football, a notable return compared with the four goals he managed throughout last season, which was split between Famalicao and Rennes.

Stade Rennais signed Zabiri for about 10m euros after he became Morocco’s world champion and leading scorer at the U20 World Cup. However, the French club sent him on loan to Santander this summer without an option to buy after a difficult first half-season in France. He made only six Ligue 1 appearances for Rennes, playing just 42 minutes.

A meeting with his boyhood club

Zabiri’s move to Spain was a considered decision. He had said the Spanish league suited his qualities better after finding it harder to adapt in France, helping convince him to join Santander.

His mobile style has quickly suited the Racing. He is comfortable attacking space and running in behind defences, qualities that have been evident in his early appearances.

The match has extra significance because of his long-standing affection for Barca. Zabiri has made no secret of his admiration for Lionel Messi, whom he calls his “role model”, as well as Luis Suarez.

He has also spoken openly about his ambition, saying: “My objective is to play for Barca. Since I was little, I have liked Barca a lot.”

The Camp Nou encounter will therefore be symbolic for the young forward. He will play at the home of the club he hopes to join one day, while attempting to cause it problems.

There has also been an unconfirmed rumour linking him with a possible move to Barcelona. Several social media accounts, including Transfer News Live, claimed to be relaying information from German publication Kicker that Barca had considered signing Zabiri during the summer transfer window.

According to those reports, Hansi Flick ultimately rejected the idea because he believed Zabiri did not yet possess the technical and tactical qualities required to establish himself at Barcelona. The claim is difficult to verify. Barcelona were looking for a forward, but it would have been surprising for them to target a promising striker coming off six difficult months at Rennes.

Whatever the truth of that story, Zabiri’s status has changed significantly. Betis, Villarreal and Real Sociedad are reportedly already monitoring his situation ahead of the transfer window.

The game also comes one day before Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi announces his squad for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Gabon and Lesotho. A standout display at Camp Nou could make it even harder for Ouahbi to overlook Zabiri.