James McNicholas reports for The Athletic that Nico Williams remains Arsenal’s preferred candidate if they decide to sign a wide player this summer, but there are various complications.
For a start, the €58m (£49m) release clause in Williams’ contract would need to be paid upfront, a significant expense to pay all in one go.
Then there’s the interest from other clubs, primarily Barcelona. With Williams scoring in the final as Spain won Euro 2024, you wouldn’t expect Barcelona to fade from the race.
McNicholas concludes that Arsenal feel they’d need to sell players before buying Williams to create squad space and generate funds.
Arsenal have been linked with Williams for a while, but his impressive performances at Euro 2024 saw Barcelona rise to the fore in the race.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta even told the media recently that they could afford Williams, saying: “Economically speaking, we could commit to the signing of Nico Williams.
“Nico’s a player I like — I like him a lot. We are working with [new coach Hansi] Flick on possible signings.”
Chelsea were also in the race earlier on, though Fabrizio Romano then reported that they had no plans to activate Nico Williams’ release clause and sign him this summer, believing the current package to be too expensive.
22-year-old Williams scored eight goals and provided 19 assists in 37 appearances for Athletic Club in 2023/24, before scoring two goals and assisting one in six appearances for Spain’s Euro 2024-winning team.
