Nico Williams has enjoyed a stunning Euro 2024, including a goal in the final, and his future is set to be one of the talking points of the summer.
The Athletic Bilbao winger has starred on the left of Luis de la Fuente’s front three in Germany, which has seen La Roja emerge victorious, confirming their triumph with a 2-1 triumph over England in Berlin.
Williams opened the scoring early in the second half thanks to an assured left-footed finish after being teed up by 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal.
And now the tournament is over, there are sure to be plenty of clubs prepared to swoop in and take Williams.
Here, talkSPORT.com looks at the contenders for Williams’ signature.
Barcelona
The clear favourites to recruit Williams this summer are Barcelona.
The LaLiga giants have identified the 21-year-old as a priority target and want to re-form his brilliant international partnership with Lamine Yamal.
For Spain, Williams and the 17-year-old have formed a good bond and complement each other very well.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas confirmed that he has a release clause in his contract and that Barcelona could sign him.
This is because they are close to resolving their financial situation, which has limited their ability to sign players.
Speaking about Williams, Tebas said: “You have to think that with Barcelona’s effort to reduce their wage bill by more than 200 million and other measures that have already taken place within the club and that have nothing to do with the levers, they can perfectly bring in a player like Nico Williams.
“Barca will be able to reach those amounts, perfectly acceptable if they are within the 1:1 norm. It is a club that is close to one billion in turnover, it can be in that line.”
Therefore, if Barcelona can continue to trim their wage bill, they’ll be in a position to sign Williams.
Arsenal
talkSPORT understands Arsenal are one of the teams on Williams’ tail after his strong season for Bilbao.
The winger directly contributed to 19 goals in the league and is a player Mikel Arteta admires.
Gabriel Martinelli wasn’t at his best last year, so a new left winger is a possibility for the Gunners.
However, the main issue for Arsenal in getting Williams is his reported wages.
Due to the fact Bilbao only recruit players from the Basque region, they don’t often spend much, while they do make a lot from the transfer market, meaning they can put their finances into wages.
As a result, he’s on around £180,000 per week, which could rule the Gunners out, especially because he would be competing with Martinelli and Leandro Trossard for minutes.
Chelsea
Again, talkSPORT understands that Chelsea are keen on recruiting Williams.
The Blues already have a wide variety of attacking options, but if they decide to move someone on, there should be space in Enzo Maresca‘s squad for this incredibly exciting winger.
But the Blues could face a battle to convince the winger to join them, given they can only offer Europa Conference League football.
Meanwhile, Barcelona and Arsenal can offer Champions League football.
As is it stands, the Blues’ interest hasn’t developed into a formal offer, and they are likely to wait to see what happens with Barcelona and Williams before deciding to take things further.
Liverpool
Finally, talkSPORT understands that Liverpool are also keen but they face two issues if they are to sign the Spaniard.
First, his wages are likely to cause them problems as he would automatically become one of the Reds’ highest-paid players.
Plus, there is the fact Liverpool have plenty of players who can operate on the left, including Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota.
So unless one of those leaves, it’s hard to see how Arne Slot‘s men find space for Williams despite his £47 million release clause looking appealing.
Athletic Bilbao
Of course, there is still a strong possibility that Williams remains at Bilbao, and judging by their latest statement, they are determined to keep him.
They said: “Nico, a footballer very committed to Athletic Club, has been subjected to a bombardment of questions about his future in an excessive and uncontrolled manner, when he is concentrated to compete in the Euro Cup by the Spanish Football Federation, which has not known how to protect him.
“Athletic aspires to the maximum, without limits. We are showing that we have an attractive and winning project for our players and coach. The proof is that we have recently renewed two of our internationals, Simón (2029) and Vivian (2031), Nico.
“He signed last year until 2027, and coveted players such as Oihan Sancet, Benat Prados, Julen Agirrezabala, and Aitor Paredes have also been committed for several seasons, to give some examples.
“Athletic Club is economically, socially and sportingly capable of keeping footballers of the calibre of those named in its structure, including Nico Williams.”