La Liga club ready to make Barcelona target their highest-paid player and increase release clause | OneFootball

Athletic Club winger Nico Williams finds himself at the centre of a transfer saga once again much like last summer, with FC Barcelona among the clubs interested.

While teams like Bayern Munich, Arsenal, and Chelsea have all taken an interest in the 22-year-old, Barça have seemingly jumped ahead in the race after a meeting took place between the winger’s agent and Deco.

Meanwhile, Athletic Club have been left stunned by the developments, given that they had been trying to renew their star winger’s contract before he left for vacation.

Athletic Club want to keep Nico, but doubts grow

Now, according to MARCA, some voices within Athletic Club are starting to question whether Nico is capable of committing to the team in the same way as his brother Inaki did in 2019, when he signed a new contract until 2028 with a release clause of €135 million.

Nico is under contract until 2027 and, for the past three summers, has consistently attracted transfer interest. He has turned down offers but never fully closed the door.

Athletic want to retain Nico. (Photo by Ion Alcoba Beitia/Getty Images)

The Spanish international will turn 23 in July, and his contract, with a relatively low release clause, is seen as an opportunity by major clubs.

Athletic Club wish to retain him and are ready to increase that clause significantly. They are even prepared to offer the 22-year-old the highest salary in the squad as part of the deal.

However, that proposal has not yet been formalised in writing, and the player continues to leave open the possibility of a move.

Athletic Club want a decision soon

As they did last season, Athletic will ask Nico for clarity over his future soon. In other words, if he is set on continuing his career elsewhere, the Basque outfit prefer to resolve the matter directly with a buying club rather than let it drag on.

On the other hand, if he plans to make his UEFA Champions League debut with Athletic and continue playing alongside his brother – even without renewing – they expect a similar resolution to the one after the Euro 2024 when he returned to training and ended speculation about his future.