Nico Williams and Athletic: Barça failed bid sparks fresh row

Athletic’s camp has been thrown into turmoil by comments from Félix Tainta about Nico Williams’ failed move to Barcelona. MARCA reports that the agent said he was “very close” to finalising the deal with the Blaugrana, in talks that, it adds, the Bilbao club followed throughout.

So far, the club has not issued a public response. The next flashpoint could come at Uriarte’s Assembly of “Compromisarios”, where questions are expected about the situation revealed by Tainta. On the Los Fulanos podcast, the agent claimed Nico chose to push for Barcelona over the interests of other clubs, and that the deal didn’t happen because Barça couldn’t guarantee the player’s registration: Nico “couldn’t expose himself to being without games in a World Cup year”.

Tainta also recalled the renewal ahead of the Euro: “He renewed in December 2023 when 2024 still had him free. We understood we couldn’t leave on a free.” For the matches, Nico Williams misses this Saturday’s game at Valencia due to injury, with his return pencilled in for Wednesday at Levante or Sunday 25 at San Mamés vs Getafe.