Barcelona told to look elsewhere as Nico Williams is not up for sale

James Shearman

• Updated: 11 Jul 2024 19:47 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona's pursuit of top target Nico Williams will seemingly end in disappointment.

The Catalan club have wanted to sign the winger for quite some time and a deal finally looked like it would happen this summer.

Williams has been at the European Championships with Spain over the past month and, yet, the rumours have not died down.

READ MORE: Latest Barcelona transfer rumours

Williams' club, Athletic Bilbao, are sick of the noise, however, and have thus released a statement.

They are adamant that they can afford to keep their best player despite the interest from Hansi Flick's side.

Athletic's statement read: "Athletic aspires to the maximum, without limits. We are showing that we have an attractive and winning project for our players and coaches.

"The proof is that we have recently renewed two of our internationals, Simon (2029) and Vivian (2031), Nico signed last year until 2027, and coveted players such as Sancet, Prados, Julen Agirrezabala, and Paredes have also been committed for several seasons.

"Athletic Club is economically, socially and sportingly capable of keeping footballers of the calibre of those named in its structure, including Nico Williams."

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Barcelona president on Williams

Athletic Club definitely would not have appreciated Barcelona president Joan Laporta's comments on the club's pursuit of Williams.

Many have speculated that Barca are not able to make such a statement signing, though that idea was rebuffed by Laporta.

He told Catalunya Radio: "Obviously I like him, a lot. But here we have to let those who have the responsibility work, and Deco is working to make the signings that he and Flick have discussed, and I hope to have good news.

"Today we can afford to sign Nico Williams. We can afford a signing like Nico’s. It is the result of the work that has been done over the years to get to this point, that we could afford a signing of this level.

"It has been three very intense years, with many things to do, but we have worked very well and we are happy with the work because the club’s finances are recovering and we will soon have good news in this regard.