Barca Universal
·2 luglio 2025
Athletic Club promote new kit with Barcelona target Nico Williams at front and centre

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Yahoo sportsBarca Universal
·2 luglio 2025
Nico Williams’ days at Athletic Club appear to be numbered. His transfer to Barcelona is increasingly close to being finalised.
However, the Basque club are not ready to accept the departure of one of their best players to a new rival.
Indeed, Athletic Club president Jon Uriarte is attempting to block the transfer by all possible means, such as requesting information on Barça’s financial situation from La Liga to get them to stop the transfer citing FFP concerns.
Now, Athletic Club have once again countered by promoting their new kit using the image of Nico Williams, reports SPORT.
On the homepage of club’s official website, the 22-year-old is shown wearing Athletic Club’s 2025/26 shirt. This move might appear innocent or even coincidental.
However, it is worth noting that Nico’s image is not from any official photo shoot, unlike that of his teammate Alex Berenguer.
In fact, the image of the attacker comes from Athletic Club’s final match of last season. The new home kit was made available for purchase on 16 May and debuted on 25 May.
Athletic Club sparing no efforts to keep Nico. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)
Coincidentally, on that final matchday of La Liga, Los Leones faced Barcelona – a match in which Hansi Flick’s side ended the season with a 3-0 victory at San Mames. It is likely that this match marked Nico’s final appearance in an Athletic Club shirt.
Despite efforts by the Basque club’s leadership – including meetings with La Liga and promotional campaigns – to retain the UEFA Euro 2024 winner, the player’s decision is clear: he wants to play for Barcelona next season.
In this regard, Nico’s transfer to the Blaugrana is now in its final phase. In recent days, the player’s agent had requested guarantees of registration and even a release clause in case he was not registered.
However, Barcelona have received encouraging news on this front.
La Liga president Javier Tebas has confirmed to the club that they will return to the 1:1 rule, made possible by including €100 million from the lease of 475 VIP seats at Spotify Camp Nou in the financial report closed on 30 June.
This new financial position will make it easier to register Nico Williams, as well as Joan Garcia and the club’s contract renewals.