Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal announced themselves in front of an international audience with strong performances for the Spanish national team in a vital 1-0 win over Italy at Euro 2024.
Yamal is already the face of Barcelona as a 16-year-old after just one season at the club, immediately establishing himself as a starter over another top winger in Raphinha.
Meanwhile, Williams completed his second strong season on the left wing at Athletic Club, and now many teams around Europe’s elite would like to sign the Spaniard, including Barcelona, who appear to have the strongest interest in the 21-year-old.
According to a report from Mundo Deportivo’s Jordi Santamaria, Barcelona have also been offered the opportunity to sign another top young winger in LaLiga in Real Betis standout Assane Diao.
Barcelona could reportedly pay just 15 million euros in order to sign Diao, who is much less proven than Williams but is even younger at the age of 18 compared to Williams at 21.
Last season, Diao made most of his starts on the right wing as opposed to Williams, who was a left winger in Bilbao. However, Diao is also a right-footed player and projects best as a left winger.
Barcelona do not need a right winger either. They already have the best long-term right winger in the world in Yamal, while they could still hold onto Raphinha, especially with Hansi Flick now the manager.
The Blaugrana can probably only sign one talented left winger this summer, and Williams, between the two, is the most ready to start – and Barcelona very much need someone who can start now and for the next several years. Williams is that guy.
Diao is good enough to start for Betis but not Barcelona. If he costs 15 million euros, Barca could conceivably sign him in addition to Williams at his 58 million euro release clause.
A combined 75 million euros for Williams and Diao is a perfectly great way to make sure the wings are settled for the next several years with Raphinha and Yamal locking down the right.
Ferran Torres is as good as gone at this point, so that money coming in can be factored into signing both players, but Diao, with all his promise, may not like the idea of being logjammed as a rotational player behind Williams.
The argument can be made to Diao that on the wings, the name of the game in modern football is depth. Looking at the elite Champions League contenders right now – Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Manchester City – all had stars on the wings last season and added even more talent this summer in Kylian Mbappe, Endrick, Savio, and Michael Olise.
Perhaps Barcelona can look to Diao as an alternative if they miss out on Williams to top Premier League clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea, but perhaps they could double-dip with LaLiga’s best up-and-coming left wingers (now that Savio is City-bound).
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.