Athletic Club sends warning shot to Spain and Barcelona over speculation about Nico Williams

Athletic Club president Jon Uriarte has lobbed harsh criticism at the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and Barcelona over their handling of Nico Williams in recent weeks. Speculation about his future has reached fever pitch in recent weeks and Athletic are not happy that the RFEF has not intervened.

Spain have made their players regularly available to the media during Euro 2024 and that has meant Williams has faced a number of questions about his future and whether he would be happy to play alongside some of his La Roja teammates in Barcelona. Lamine Yamal has consistently stated that he would be happy to do so.

However, public pressure was increased even further on Monday when Barcelona president Joan Laporta stated that Barcelona not only had the money to sign him, but also that he was a fan of Williams. Now Uriarte has responded. He said the following when the club presented new signings Andoni Gorosabel and Alvaro Djalo, and it was published as an official statement on the club website.

“Nico, a footballer very committed to Athletic Club, was bombarded with questions about his future in an excessive and uncontrolled manner by the Spanish Football Federation, which did not know how to protect him, while he was focused on participating in the European Championship.”

“Respect between all the players who make up football is a fundamental basis, or at least that is how we understand it at Athletic Club. We do not have the formula of subjecting players who are under contract with other clubs to public pressure in order to sign them.”

“Athletic strives for the maximum, without limits. We show that we have an attractive and successful project for our footballers and coaches. The proof of this is that we recently renewed the contracts of two of our international players, Unai Simon (2029) and Dani Vivian (2031), Nico signed last year until 2027 and sought-after players such as Oihan Sancet, Benat Prados, Julen Agirrezabala and Aitor Paredes, to name just a few examples.”

“Athletic Club is economically, socially and sportingly capable of retaining footballers of the calibre of those mentioned in its structure, including Nico Williams.”