Athletic Club star winger Nico Williams has been on the transfer radar of the top clubs in European football for years now, as Arsenal, Chelsea, and Barcelona were all involved in a three-club battle for the Spanish international after watching him blow up the European Championships last year.
Williams forms one of the most potent attacking duos in LaLiga with older brother Inaki in Bilbao, and he created an even more formidable partnership with teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, proving too dynamic for everyone else in Europe to stop.
Yamal did his best to recruit Williams to Barcelona, but the Bilbao man wanted to stay with his brother for one more season while he also earned a well-deserved raise from his childhood club to stay a bit longer.
Now, though, Barcelona are prepared to give Williams the money he wants, and after a disappointing season for the player in Spain, he seems to be singing a different tune about a move in 2025.
Nico Williams prioritizing one suitor
According to Fabrizio Romano, Williams is now “giving priority” to a Barcelona transfer this summer, which is a formal way to say that the 22-year-old star winger has decided to join the LaLiga champions, barring an unforeseen twist in the tale.
Fab says that every club that is interested in Williams, which includes Arsenal and Chelsea, are aware of the fact that Williams prefers Barcelona to the rest of the field.
Interestingly enough, the Italian transfer journalist notes that Bayern Munich, who just started showing interest in Williams this year after it became even more obvious they have a desperate need for a left winger, are “still intentioned to wait”.
That implies that Chelsea and Arsenal have moved on to other targets. Chelsea, of course, are closing in on a deal for Borussia Dortmund and England international Jamie Bynoe-Gittens while the Gunners are dreaming of a potential Rodrygo Goes move, though it remains to be seen if he’ll even be available this summer after apparently positive talks with Xabi Alonso.
Chelsea can sign Jamie Bynoe-Gittens instead
Both Chelsea and Arsenal need a left winger badly. Arsenal do have a very talented player in Gabriel Martinelli, but his talent hasn’t grown since his 15-goal season a couple of years ago.
If anything, Martinelli has regressed badly and is no longer the team’s best option in the position. Leandro Trossard is, but the Belgian international doesn’t really have the dynamism to start for a team that wants to win the Premier League.
When it comes to dynamism, Williams is one of the best there is at creating chances and being a traditional winger who takes people on, and as Manchester City can attest with Jeremy Doku and Savinho as signings in the last two summer transfer windows, that style is becoming in vogue again, especially in the highly athletic Premier League.
Chelsea can still get a player of that caliber with arguably even more upside in Bynoe-Gittens, but it is a blow if Williams has indeed chosen Barcelona. But it’s not an unsurprising one to the Premier League powerhouses either, considering Williams loves Spain and was giving priority to Barcelona and his close friend Yamal before essentially choosing to leave a year later in order to play a little more with Bilbao – and his other close friend, his own brother.
The editor of The Trivela Effect, Joe Soriano has been covering world football for nearly a decade. His articles have been read by players, linked to mainstream sites, and gone viral on social media. He also manages the Real Madrid site A Trip to Cibeles and helps run the Tottenham site Hotspur HQ. Joe even covers pro wrestling, managing Let Them Wrestle.