- 16 hours ago
Nico Williams chooses Barcelona over Arsenal
Carlo Garganese
- 9 Jul 2024 12:30 BST
- 4 min read
Nico Williams would prefer to join Barcelona over Arsenal this summer.
That is according to Matteo Moretto, who reports that Williams wants to stay in Spain when he leaves Athletic Bilbao.
Willians has a number of close friends at Barcelona and is not keen on moving abroad at this stage.
BARCELONA TRANSFER NEWS TODAY: Araujo blow puts €100m deal ‘ON HOLD’, Raphinha is ‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE’
Barcelona are battling Arsenal and Chelsea for the Athletic Bilbao winger, who has lit up Euro 2024 for the Spain national team.
AS reports that both Chelsea and Arsenal are prepared to meet Williams’ €58 million release clause to sign him this summer.
Current ETV
Nico Williams
M (L)
Athletic
Nico Williams
M (L)
Athletic
ETV Range
€34.2M - €57M
But Chelsea may struggle to meet Williams’ salary request when added to the transfer fee, meaning the race for the winger is more out of Barcelona and Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta is a huge fan of the wideman but Barcelona are confident they will sign the player.
Indeed, Barcelona president Joan Laporta boasted as much on Monday.
“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,” he said.
“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, 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.
“We are working to confirm the club’s economic recovery and there are a series of operations that we have worked on and that we will soon be able to announce. It is very comforting to be able to finish this process that has taken us three years and I hope that we return to normality.”
Williams has been one of the stars of Euro 2024 with electric performances in the wins over Croatia, Italy and Georgia.
Against the now-disposed reigning champions, Williams tore apart the Italy right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo and set up the winner - an own goal by Riccardo Calafiori.
He also scored a fantastic goal in the win over Georgia in the last-16.
How much is Nico Williams release clause?
There is a €58 million release clause in Williams’ contract at Athletic.
The 21-year-old Williams is considered one of the most exciting young wingers in all of Europe.
Blessed with lightning pace and dribbling skills, he has a promising future in the game.
After making his debut for Athletic in 2021, Williams has scored 20 goals in 122 games.
He has also scored three goals in 18 games for Spain, and travelled to the 2022 World Cup.
His brother is fellow Athletic Bilbao star Inaki Williams, who plays his international football for the Ghana national team.
Williams is next in action on Tuesday as Spain take on France in the semi finals at Euro 2024.
