Barça activates behind the scenes to attract Nico Williams, and the file seems to have experienced a major advance in the last hours.
FC Barcelona may hold its big summer. Courted by the biggest European clubs, Nico Williams seems closer than ever to Camp Nou. The Catalan club, in search of a left winger to support Lamine Yamal and renew its offensive corridor, has intensified the discussions in recent hours. According to the evolution of the file, an agreement could quickly be sealed.
Operation Nico Williams crosses a CAP
This is what asserts
Sky Germanywhich revealed on Monday that Barça is now ahead of Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Arsenal in the race to the player. New talks have been held in all discretion in recent 24 hours, pushing Joan Laporta to seriously study the feasibility of the transfer. The agreement today seems suspended from a single condition: that the Liga validates the registration of the player in the club's wage bill.
Hansi Flick wants the Athletic Club player since last summer. The German technician has made it his absolute priority, aware of the already existing alchemy between Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal with the Roja. If the player seems to be willing to make financial efforts (in particular by accepting a salary below the English offers) the membership of Barça to the project remains conditioned on internal movements.
Nico Williams-Barça: Towards a decisive outcome
Tensions with Athletic Bilbao complicate the case
But the context is tense.
The Athletic Bilbao did not digest the contacts between Deco and the player's agent without prior consultation. The Basque club claims 58 million euros cash, the value of the release clause, and refuses any staggered payment. A requirement which, added to the taxes, brings the operation to 64 million euros. Barcelona, who is still struggling to balance her accounts, must therefore sell before buying.
The file therefore remains complex, even if optimism is gaining ground. Nico Williams wants to join Catalonia. Barça wants it. Hansi Flick pushes hard. But as long as finances are not sanitized and the approval of the liga is not given, the formalization cannot take place. In the meantime, the soap continues to fuel hopes … and tensions.
