MIKEL ARTETA INSISTS ON SIGNING NICO
The battle for Nico Williams: Will Arsenal leave Barcelona with no options?
Published:26/01/2025 - 00:09h
Updated:26/01/2025 - 00:09h
Arsenal is very serious about signing Nico Williams. In London, they know that the winger will not continue at Athletic and are willing to pay his release clause as soon as possible.
The future of Nico Williams strongly points to the Premier League for next season. Arsenal would be very interested in paying the release clause of the 22-year-old forward (around 60 million euros), as long as the Basque player gives the 'ok' in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, FC Barcelona is keeping its distance, with a clear intention to address other priorities before thinking about the summer market.
Recent information indicates significant progress in the contacts between the Spanish international and the 'gunner' management to finalize his arrival at the Emirates Stadium in July. Mikel Arteta prioritizes the arrival of a winger and a '9' for the 2025-26 season, and the '10' from Athletic would be the chosen one to rebuild the attack of the London team. This season, Arsenal has not managed to meet expectations in either the Premier League or the Champions League, although the team remains in the upper part of the standings in both tournaments.
Barça will not make moves for Nico Williams until summer
In addition to Arsenal, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are also keeping a close eye on the future of the Basque winger, both clubs with plenty of money to offer the 22-year-old forward contracts at the level of a superstar. In any case, Barça will wait until the end of the 2024-25 season to resume contacts with Nico and his representatives, as the club's priority at this moment is to resolve all pending renewals.
The snub from the Pamplona player last summer upset the Barcelona management greatly, but the '10' from Athletic remains one of the top options to strengthen the Barcelona attack. This happens mainly because of his great relationship with Lamine Yamal, Alejandro Balde, and the rest of the Spain internationals in the Barça squad. Williams has shown his best version with La Roja in the past Eurocup and would undoubtedly fit perfectly into Hansi Flick's scheme.
However, both Deco and Joan Laporta seem to lean towards signing Rafael Leao, a player with similar characteristics but with a much higher value (his transfer would cost around 100 'kilos'). With Barça back to the 1:1 rule, restrictions for signing in a Barcelona team that aims for at least two 'top' signings in the next transfer window are over.
