Reinforcing the team’s attack is one of the main objectives of FC Barcelona in this summer transfer window. For this purpose, the Catalans have been prioritizing two targets; the Athletic Club winger Nico Williams and the RB Leipzig forward Dani Olmo.
Nico Williams was the top priority of the Blaugranes for this window, but from the very start, it was clear that Barcelona would have to do a lot of work to be able to obtain the Spanish winger for their team.
Nico has a rather affordable release clause of €58 million, but, despite Laporta’s assurances, even this sum is not easy to generate for the Catalan club in their current economic conditions. Furthermore, they also had to make the required space in their wage bill to be able to register him with La Liga.
Furthermore, Nico himself has not given his approval for a move to Barcelona yet. He is an integral player for Athletic Club, and his elder brother, Inaki Williams, has also been trying to ensure he does not leave the Basque side.
Owing to all these difficulties, there was an increasing sense of pessimism about the club’s ability to incorporate the winger this summer. Now, the latest reports on the recent European champion have dealt a death blow to Barcelona’s pursuit of him.
According to a report from Mundo Deportivo, Nico has already returned to training with Athletic Club at Lezama. He was previously scheduled to return to training next Monday, 12th August, but he has brought forward his return to his current club’s facilities.
Furthermore, Athletic Club has also published a video on their social media in which the winger is expressing his eagerness to get started training and playing under Ernesto Valverde. In this video, the Spaniard can be seen saying: “Aupa Athletic fans! I’m back, very excited for this season. Aupa Athletic!”
This move dispels any possibility of a transfer to either Barcelona or PSG this summer. Thus, the Blaugranes will have to ensure that they do not miss out on Dani Olmo now, otherwise, it would be a highly disappointing transfer window for the Cules.
