Barcelona are no longer confident about their chances of signing Nico Williams for Athletic Club. Since the Basque winger expressed a desire to move to the Blaugrana, they have appeared confident that this summer the signing would go through.
This comes after a lengthy pursuit of Williams last summer, but in that case, it was Barcelona persuading him to leave Athletic. This time, Williams has actively pursued the move, and the Catalan giants were on course to pay his €58m release clause. However agent Felix Tainta has asked for guarantees that Barcelona can register Williams, something that has stalled the deal.
Marc Casadó is receiving concrete offers. Chelsea, other Premier League clubs and Atlético Madrid are interested in him. Barça could listen to offers if the bid is to their liking. What Casadó's stance is, is unclear. @sport
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 2, 2025
Barcelona have sought to assure Williams and Tainta they can get the deal done, and register him later in the summer, but Marca now say that they are not so sure that the deal will go through. Several days ago, there was optimism in the Catalan capital, but that has dissipated somewhat.
The Blaugrana remain over their salary limit, and must pay Athletic his €60m release clause, before registering Williams’ salary too. Both parties are seeking a solution, but so far, none have appeared on the horizon. There are voices from within Barcelona that believe that the move will collapse. Time is ticking down until Athletic return to preseason training on the ninth of July, and all parties want the matter resolved one way or another before that occurs.
Meanwhile Bayern Munich have made a strong play for Williams’ services too, and amid the delays with Barcelona, came back with a reported €12m per annum salary offer for Williams, and a guarantee of paying the clause. Sport say that Williams has rejected talks with Bayern until negotiations with Barcelona are resolved, a move to Camp Nou being his priority.
