Nico Williams is the subject of transfer interest from Arsenal and Barcelona, who are waiting for him to decide whether to leave or stay at Athletic Bilbao.
He was a standout performer for Spain at Euro 2024, and several clubs want him to join their squad this summer.
Arsenal has been following him for several months, and the Gunners will fight for his signature if he decides to leave. However, it seems a decision about his future was made some time ago.
A report in Sport claims the winger has already decided where he will play next season, and Arsenal’s pursuit might be in vain.
The report claims Williams promised his brother Inaki that he would spend one more season at Bilbao so they could play another campaign together before he considers leaving the club.
He remains on holiday, but this report clearly suggests that the attacker will stay with his current club this season.
Just Arsenal Opinion
Williams is one of the best wingers on the continent now, but signing him would be tough.
However, we remain financially healthy, which puts us in a position to land him if there is any chance he will change clubs.
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Cash stuck Barcelona need to sell players first before buying him. Maybe that’s why he has changed his mind, since his dream move to Barcelona has embarrassingly fell flat on its face. Oh dear!.
Anyway if it’s about the want high extreme wages, then maybe he’s now thinking, what can I squeeze out of my current club. Will he sign an improved contract offer or will he run his contract down like Mbappe did?
I don’t think that it was any financial problem on Barcelona’s side. They apparently had prioritised the signing of Williams and were clear favourites to sign him so presumably were confident that the money was available.
The reason is far more likely to be as stated in the report (surprise, surprise) – Williams has a close attachment to Athletic because his brother plays there. This is common knowledge in Spain, but rarely reported here as part of the whole Williams transfer “saga”. It seems that he’s chosen family over a probable move to Barcelona this summer.
What happens at the end of next season remains to be seen but if he does leave Barcelona may well be favourites to get him then.
Everybody knows that Barcelona needs to balance the books, that has not gone away overnight, but you are right, his preference is between those two clubs and it is no real secret that he is demanding Prima Donna high wages, which has put off a lot of clubs from even bidding for him, if we are to believe the Spanish and European press.