On Friday, Nico Williams made a surprisingly voluntary about his decision to leave the Athletic Club by signing a new contract, thus snubbing Barcelona.
He also refused Bayern Munich's offer, who also hoped to conclude an agreement.
Bayern had planned to get started and conclude an agreement with Williams if he decided not to join Barcelona, but that did not work for them, because he chose to stay at Athletic, with which he is now under contract until 2035.
Bayern Munich reacts to Nico Williams' decision
The end of this saga surprised a lot of people, and as Uli Hoeneß, honorary president of Bayern, confirmed, the leaders of the Bundesliga champion were just as shocked as those of Barcelona. He spoke about it on BR24.
“When a club extends the contract for its own player, there is nothing unusual. I would have done the same if I had been in the place of the Athletic Club. But we were all surprised that Nico Williams extended his contract. I was in close contact with Hansi Flick, who is currently on vacation in Tegernsee, and they were also surprised because they had more or less an agreement with him.
“I do not understand what (Nico) wants, but in my opinion, the Athletic Club simply tries to get more money because next year, it will cost more than 60 million euros. »»
Williams definitively grilled
After this camouflet, Barcelona clearly said that he would never seek to recruit Williams again, after being rejected by him in 2024 and 2025. Hoeneß also confirmed during the interview that Bayern's position would be similar.
The Athletic will not care in the least that Williams' decision is questioned, because it is he who will be able to take advantage of his services for another 10 years. And the chances that an agreement is concluded in the future are even lower, since its release clause is not around 100 million euros.
