Jose Mourinho urges Nico Williams to reject Arsenal and Manchester United in favour of Real Madrid move | OneFootball

Number of Premier league clubs believed to be interested in 22-year-old

Jose Mourinho wants Nico Williams to turn down a move to the Premier League and join Real Madrid if he leaves Athletic Bilbao.

The 22-year-old was one of the standout players at Euro 2024 in the summer, scoring in the final as he was named player of the match in Spain’s win over England.

There was strong speculation over his future following the tournament, with Arsenal and Chelsea among the Premier League clubs believed to be interested in Williams, while Barcelona were also keen admirers.

The winger opted to stay at Athletic and has had a fairly quiet season so far, scoring only one LaLiga goal in 15 appearances.

However, Mourinho has spoken of how highly he rates Williams, above even Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, and hopes that his next club will be Madrid rather than an English one.

"Nico is wonderful," Mourinho said.

"At the last Euros, everyone was talking about Yamal, Yamal, Yamal… who is obviously another fantastic young player.

"But personally, I prefer Nico. He is a fantastic footballer. One cannot think that a Turkish club could sign him. I hope he ends up at Real Madrid."

Reports earlier this season suggested that Manchester United also intend to compete in any transfer battle for Williams next summer.

They could be joined in that by rivals Manchester City, with Rodri revealing his desire to line up alongside his Spain team-mate at club level too.

“Yes, yes,” Rodri said when asked if he would want to bring Williams to City.

“Right now if I was taking him I would also be taking him to teach him a little bit about the cold in England, although it’s similar to Bilbao.

‘But yes, I would take him with me without a doubt.”