In the past few weeks, Nico Williams has made himself the top transfer target of FC Barcelona for this window. Previously, the Catalans were preferring the signing of a midfield pivot ahead of everything else, but with his performances in the UEFA EURO 2024, Nico Williams is now their top priority.
However, it will not really be easy for the Blaugranes to sign the Athletic Club winger. Although Joan Laporta has publicly declared that Barcelona have the resources to sign him, the Catalans will still find it difficult to get a signing of such caliber registered with La Liga at this point in time.
Furthermore, Barcelona can see this operation getting further complicated with the emergence of PSG as another suitor for the 22-year-old Spanish star.
Meanwhile, as Mundo Deportivo has noted, the winger himself is facing a lot of pressure to make a decision about his future. Throughout the UEFA EURO 2024, he faced questions about his future club. The winger did not give any specific answer to any of these questions, and intelligently let the subject remain ambiguous.
All these questions ended up bothering Athletic Club, who have all the right to be upset with the way Nico’s transfer is being dealt with by the media.
Their President, Jon Uriarte, complained about this barrage of questions that Nico was facing during EURO 2024 and blamed the RFEF for not protecting him. Furthermore, he also made it clear that his club has the economic, sporting, and social means to retain the winger.
Similarly, the Athletic Club coach, Ernesto Valverde, and captain, Oscar de Marcos, also made comments stressing the need for Nico to continue at his current club.
In all this noise surrounding Nico, Barcelona understand that the one thing that can most jeopardize their pursuit of the forward is an unneeded confrontation with Athletic Club. For now, the Catalans are focusing on obtaining the full consent of the winger for a move, and are ready to make the payment of his €58 million release clause.
