Barcelona have made no secret about their intentions to sign Athletic Club winger Nico Williams. While the Basque winger has not made a public pronouncement on the matter, the Catalan media are reporting that he is also prioritising a move to Barcelona over other options.
However Barcelona are not the only side that are interested in Williams. Arsenal and Chelsea have been linked to Williams in recent months, but appear to have dropped their interest in the 22-year-old. Meanwhile Bayern Munich have made contact with his camp, and have been reportedly been told that Williams is prioritising Barcelona, but are still interested in a deal should the Catalan side fail to pull off a move.
Bayern Munich contact Hansi Flick
According to The Daily Briefing, Bayern Munich have contacted former manager Hansi Flick over the matter. The Bavarian side were keen to find out just how serious Barcelona were about signing Williams, beyond the media noise, and asked Flick whether he believed the deal would be done. The German coach told his former side that Barcelona were ‘sure to sign Williams’, and that Barcelona are convinced they can register him.
Bayern Munich considering move for Barcelona target
Before Williams made it clear that he was open to a move this summer, Barcelona had been targeting Luis Diaz. Yet Liverpool rebuffed their attempts to negotiate a deal, with the Reds seemingly wanting at least €85m to consider an offer. Insider Christian Falk explains that Bayern, if they cannot sign Williams, are considering other alternatives for the left wing spot, and Liverpool stars Diaz and Cody Gakpo are in their thinking.
Barcelona are ignoring Athletic Club’s furious public attack, and stick to their plan to trigger Nico Williams’ release clause at the beginning of July. However, they don’t understand why a club that have triggered almost 30 release clauses (some of them in a poor manner) are now… pic.twitter.com/LLl8lMOZyM
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 27, 2025
Barcelona’s war of words with Athletic Club
Athletic Club are less convinced about Barcelona’s ability to sign and register Williams. They have consulted La Liga, who say that Barcelona are not within their salary limit currently, but Barcelona President Joan Laporta has declared that they are willing to pay Williams’ €58m release clause.
/https%3A%2F%2Fsportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F07%2Fimago1036728571-1-1-68872c652d5e6025006745.jpg?w=120&resize=120,86&ssl=1 "Barcelona veteran ‘accepts’ exit decision as £3m")
