NICO WILLIAMS
The Nico-Barça issue awakens echoes of Mbappé and Madrid
Published New:4/07/2025 - 19:29h
Updated New:5/07/2025 - 02:25h
Nico Williams' non-signing by Barça has generated a wave of exchange of opinions and comparisons with what happened between Mbappé and Madrid
FC Barcelona was left behind for Nico Williams after the announcement of his renewal with Athletic Club de Bilbao until 2035, igniting the debate on social networks, where users began to make comparisons with what happened between Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid before the Frenchman arrived at Valdebebas in the summer of 2024.
In this sense, everything seemed to indicate that the Bilbao '10' would become Barça's star signing for the 2025/26 season, but apparently, given the Catalan team's inability to guarantee his registration, ehe left winger preferred to extend his link with 'the lions'.
It was even expected that Barça would pay Nico's termination clause between this week and next week, which, before the renewal announcement, was 58 million plus 4 of CPI.
Mbappé-Madrid Case: initially the player preferred other offers
The 'casa blanca' wanted Kylian Mbappé since his emergence in the first team of AS Monaco in the 2016/17 season, but the striker took longer than expected to wear the merengue shirt.
The 'blanco' club, according to different media, had practically closed an agreement with the team from the Principality, but everything took an unexpected turn when Paris Saint-Germain matched the Madrid offer. Subsequently, Mbappé chose to join the Parisian team
Over time, it became known that the fierce competition in the Madrid squad was a key factor that tipped the balance in his decision.
For the second time, in the summer of 2021, Real Madrid launched into the market for 'Kiki', who had a contract until 2022 with PSG, but the operation did not proceed. Real Madrid would have presented offers of up to 170 million euros, but the Parisians were not interested in negotiating for the player.
In the summer of 2022 Mbappé was free, and this pointed to the player signing as a Madrid player, but the story would not change. The 27-year-old attacker renewed with Paris until 2025, although he ended up leaving in the summer of 2024.
However, in 2022, according to rumors, Kylian even reached an agreement with the merengues, which included the payment of 130 million euros as a signing bonus, total control of image rights and a very high salary.
Nico-Barça Operation: the operation falls through because the player's registration cannot be guaranteed
Mbappé had up to three opportunities to reach Madrid, but Nico Williams is unlikely to have the same luck as the '9' of 'los blancos'.
Barça was also interested in the '16' of 'La Roja' in the summer of 2024, but given the possibility that his registration could not be achieved in time, the player chose not to change his mind. At that time, everything seemed to indicate that the azulgrana team would not bet on the player again.
However, on June 13, a new opportunity arrived for the '10' from Pamplona, when his agent met with Deco to explain that Nico wanted to join Barça. Then the azulgrana team decided to launch again for him, leaving aside another option such as Luis Díaz.
Finally, when everything seemed to be on track, his renewal with Athletic Club was announced. It was also commented that Nico rejected any offer from Bayern Munich, because he only wanted to join Barcelona.
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