Barcelona players reacts to Nico Williams snub, impact on personal relationships revealed | OneFootball

Barcelona are still reeling from the decision of Nico Williams to turn down a move – for the second summer in a row – in order to sign a new contract with Athletic Club. Club bosses in Catalonia have reacted angrily to the snub, especially considering that personal terms had been in place with the 22-year-old.

It was taken for granted that Williams would move to Barcelona, with the player having notified Athletic of his intention to join the La Liga champions. But this feeling of expectancy had filtered down to the first team squad, as has been reported by Diario AS. It’s also claimed that some of the players expressed this via text messages to those close to them.

Sport have backed up this information, confirming that surprise and disappointment are the two leading emotions that Barcelona players have expressed over Williams’ decision to turn down the move.

Image via EFE

Nico Williams’ relations with Barcelona players are unaffected

The news could be especially disappointing to the number of Barcelona players that Williams has a personal relationship with. Lamine Yamal is widely regarded as one of his best friends in football, while he is also close with Spain teammates Pau Cubarsi, Pedri, Gavi and Fermin Lopez, among others.

But according to the Catalan daily, those relationships have been – and will be – unaffected by Williams’ decision to U-turn on a move to Barcelona. The report also states that Lamine Yamal was informed of his friend’s decision to stay in Bilbao prior to Athletic’s announcement on Friday morning.

Barcelona have started looking at alternative targets

The search has now restarted for a new left winger, now that Barcelona have missed out on signing Williams. Luis Diaz is believed to the club’s top target, while Marcus Rashford is also an option – but at this stage, he is not being considered by sporting director Deco.