Athletic Club lean strongly towards Bayern Munich over Barcelona for Nico Williams transfer | OneFootball

According to a fresh report from SPORT, Athletic Club appear to favour selling Nico Williams to Bayern Munich rather than Barcelona, and are even willing to offer the German side more flexible financial terms to get the deal done.

This development could complicate Barça’s pursuit of the highly-rated winger, despite already reaching an agreement with the player.

The key reason behind Athletic’s preference lies in the structure of the payment for the player’s €58 million release clause, which, adjusted with CPI, stands at approximately €62 million.

Flexible for Bayern, but not for Barcelona

Athletic are reportedly open to negotiating staggered payments with Bayern, showing financial flexibility that they are not willing to extend to Barcelona.

With Barça, the Bilbao-based club is standing firm that they are demanding a full upfront payment of the entire amount.

Given Barça’s well-known financial struggles and their need to comply with La Liga’s Financial Fair Play regulations, this inflexibility poses a major hurdle.

Bayern Munich are not giving up on Athletic Club. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Bayern, on the other hand, are seen as a club capable of meeting those terms more easily.

Bayern nervous about Barça’s agreement

Although Athletic favour Bayern from a financial standpoint, Barcelona remain firmly in the race thanks to Nico Williams’ personal preference.

The 22-year-old winger has already agreed terms with Barça, and that has caused growing concern within Bayern.

Barcelona, despite the complications, still believe they can pull off the transfer. In fact, Deco, the club’s sporting director, addressed the situation in a recent interview, saying,

“We have a good group, and we want to keep it that way. Players like Nico or Luis Diaz have the right mindset. They’re hungry to succeed, and that matters.”

The message from Deco is clear that Barça want Nico, and they are exploring every possible avenue to make it work, even if it means navigating tight financial limitations.

However, with Athletic pushing for a deal with Bayern and being more accommodating to the German giants, the outcome will likely depend on whether Barcelona can raise the funds quickly or whether Bayern act swiftly to capitalise on the favourable terms.