Arsenal suffer blow in Nico Williams chase

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 5 Jan 2025 13:10 GMT
• 4 min read

In a blow to Arsenal, Barcelona plan to sell Raphinha in order to fund the signing of Nico Williams.

According to Fichajes, Barcelona need to sell players in order to raise funds for their summer transfer window.

Williams, along with Bayern Munich superstar Jamal Musiala, are the top targets for Barca.

And Fichajes reports that Barcelona are ready to sacrifice Raphinha, who has enjoyed a brilliant season so far in order to bring in Williams.

This comes as a blow to Arsenal, who have made Williams one of their main targets this year.

Indeed, FootballTransfers' Steve Kay reported this week that the Gunners are in ongoing discussions with the player’s agent and are prepared to act swiftly - as early as this month - to secure the signature of the Spain star, who has a release clause of €58 million in his contract with the Bilbao side.

Arsenal are waiting for Williams to give the green light to a move before proceeding – something they were unable to secure when they followed him last summer.

If the 22-year-old gives his thumbs up to the deal, Mikel Arteta’s side are ready to trigger his release clause.

However, Arsenal are aware that Williams has always been reported to prefer to join Barcelona rather than move to the Premier League.

The Blaugrana had been desperate to sign the Athletic Bilbao winger this past summer but were unable to complete a deal for financial reasons.

Arsenal and Chelsea have also been trying to sign Williams over the past several months, and the three teams are all in the race for the 22-year-old winger in 2025.

READ MORE: Champions League top scorers 2024/25

Barcelona's new plans come as bad news for Arsenal, as it has been reported over the last few weeks that Mikel Arteta has demanded the signing of a top attacker like Williams in January in an attempt to rescue the Gunners’ faltering title challenge.

Williams has a transfer release clause of €58 million, which is active to all clubs.

READ MORE: Premier League top scorers 2024/25

Williams at Euro 2024

Williams was one of the stars of Euro 2024 with electric performances as Spain won the trophy.

He scored in the 2-1 final win over England and was one of the players of the tournament.

His best performance was arguably against Italy where he tore apart the 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.

The 22-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 22 goals in 145 games.

He has also scored four goals in 24 games for Spain, and travelled to the 2022 World Cup.

This season he has been a little less productive, with two goals in 23 games.