Nico Williams “wants to join Barcelona”, doubts caused by registration uncertainty | OneFootball

It’s looking increasingly likely that Nico Williams will remain as an Athletic Club player for at least one more season. Barcelona have been pushing hard to sign the Euro 2024 winner this summer, but they are now resigned to missing out on his signature.

Williams has yet to publicly confirm where he will be playing his football during the 2024-25 campaign, but Barcelona do not expect it to be with them. That’s despite ESPN reporting that the 22-year-old wants to make the move to Catalonia – that is the view of those within Paris Saint-Germain, who want to sign Williams as the replacement for Kylian Mbappe.

Williams’ doubts about joining stem from uncertainty surrounding whether he would be registered with La Liga. Barcelona have the funds to activate his Athletic release clause, but it’s far from certain whether they would have the salary space to register his contract, especially as they’ve not closed any significant departures at this stage of the summer.

The likelihood is that Barcelona will move on from Williams if he does not join this summer, especially if he were to sign a new contract with Athletic. It’s a big decision for such a young player, especially if he is indeed keen to join Hansi Flick’s squad.