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.
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.
Davichi
31
Nico better wake up and not allow his agent put him in a bad position. If he wants to come to Barca, he needs to ask his agent to get the deal done or forget about it. It's completely unreasonable to ask for a clause that will let him leave for free if not registered. The current board have found ways to get things done and his case won't be different if he joins.