Tebas warns Barça about Nico's signing: "They still can't register him"

Published New:2/07/2025 - 02:24h

Updated New:2/07/2025 - 02:25h

Javier Tebas continues to hinder Nico Williams' signing for Barça. The president of the employers' association insists: even if the 'culés' pay his clause, they still won't be able to register him

FC Barcelona is very close to signing Nico Williams, beyond the obstacles imposed by LaLiga's financial 'Fair Play' regulations. Although the 'azulgrana' team has enough money in the bank to amortize the transfer, Javier Tebas reiterated that, for the moment, the winger would not be authorized to play if he moves to Catalonia.

"Barça cannot register Nico Williams today," said the president of the employers' association during the presentation of the official calendar for 25/26. In that sense, he ruled out extra pressure from the Bilbao team to try to block the operation in the coming days.

"Men in black? I am not aware that Athletic will put a person to monitor these things," Tebas added. For the moment, the Basque team can only wait to receive LaLiga's notification of the deposit of the player's clause, which amounts to around 62 million euros including VAT.

In principle, Barça hopes to make the payment this week, probably on Friday, once Nico himself authorizes the 'azulgrana' team to close the operation. His registration generates noise, but there is full confidence in being able to resolve everything before the start of the season in mid-August.

What does Barça need to register Nico Williams?

The reasons that prevent Barça from registering any of its reinforcements at this time (the same happens with Joan García) have to do with the requirements of LaLiga's financial 'Fair Play'. On the one hand, the club needs to return to the 1:1 rule as soon as possible, which allows investing every euro that enters the 'culé' coffers in signings.

For the moment, Barça can only take advantage of 60% of its income from transfers, loans and departures. In addition, the 'azulgrana' team must free up space in its salary cap, whose limit for 24/25 was 426 million euros, 204 'kilos' more than in the previous year.

However, the 'culés' still spend more than they generate, since the 100 million euros derived from the sale of the VIP seats at the Camp Nou nor the 40 M€ owed by Libero after the sale of Barça Studios are not yet computed.

Barça knows how to avoid another 'Olmo case' with Nico Williams

In that sense, the club needs to enter at least 60 more 'kilos' to return to the 1:1 rule and operate normally in the market. Even so, to have enough margin in the squad, it will be necessary to dispense with other players (the departure of Ansu Fati has been a key first step) and close some 'top' sale to balance accounts.

Hence, both Nico Williams and Joan García must still wait to receive their federative licenses and play from matchday 1 with Barça. Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor had to wait until matchday 3 the previous year, a scenario that the board must avoid at all costs this year.

That operation was much more complex, since the problem was partially resolved thanks to the injury of Andreas Christensen after the first day of the tournament. However, this resource only enabled both players to play the first half of the year, until December 31.

In January, the 'soap opera' with the employers' association was resolved with the payment of the sale of the VIP seats at the Camp Nou, a case resolved by the ruling of the Higher Sports Council (CSD). LaLiga's position remains the same, so the 'culé' board must resolve everything in time to avoid new headaches.