Barcelona insist there will be no liquidity issues in paying Nico Williams’ €62m release clause next week | OneFootball

Barcelona are set to finalise their second signing for the 2025/26 season. After securing Joan Garcia, the next arrival will be Athletic Club winger Nico Williams.

The Spanish winger, who turned down a Barça move a year ago, changed his stance and informed Deco, the club’s sporting director, through his agent Felix Tainta. Soon after, a six-year contract was agreed.

With personal terms locked in, Barça explored the idea of negotiating directly with Athletic Club to avoid paying the release clause in one go. However, the Basque side flatly rejected the idea.

Release clause to be paid next week

Given the hardline stance from Athletic Club, Barcelona will now pay Nico’s €62 million clause – €58 million plus adjustments for inflation – in full, just as they did with Joan Garcia’s €26.34M release fee.

Despite some concerns about the club’s financial situation, SPORT reports that Barcelona insist there are no liquidity issues in paying the winger’s release clause fully.

The payment will come from available cash, including a €150 million bonus from Nike for renewing their partnership and €58 million already banked from a €100 million VIP seating deal.

Set to be a Barcelona player next week. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)

Those funds recently allowed Barça to register players like Dani Olmo and Pau Victor.

The payment is expected next week, allowing the transfer to be recorded in the 2025–26 fiscal year.

While a €30 million line of credit is being negotiated, club sources emphasise that it’s unrelated to Nico’s clause.

They frame it as standard financial management for an organization with nearly €1 billion in annual turnover. “Barça’s treasury is healthy,” they say – and ready to spend.

Relations between Barcelona and Athletic Club are strained, and the Basque outfit’s president Jon Uriarte intends to scrutinise Barça’s financial operations closely, hoping to block Nico’s exit with the help of La Liga’s Fair Play rules.

But with Barcelona set to trigger the release clause next week, without any issues, there is not much that Athletic Club can do at this point.