Nico Williams has set a pivotal condition for his potential move to FC Barcelona, intensifying the club’s efforts to secure his signature.
FC Barcelona’s interest in Nico Williams of Athletic Club has increased, and he has emerged as one of the leading options for the 2025 summer window.
Williams is an exciting player, and the 22-year-old Spaniard wants to join Barcelona, though he has made an important request for Barcelona that is likely in his best interest to make the deal possible.
The Spanish side is working hard to create funds for the transfer and manage to act on his €62 million release clause and use this to improve their options going forward under manager Hansi Flick.
Williams’ request complicates things, especially given Barcelona’s workload concerning preventing ongoing financial difficulties in the club:
The confirmation that Williams wants before a transfer will take place is merely registration with La Liga, as reported by Marca.
The history of players like Dani Olmo and Pau Victor causes concern with respect to last season regarding the well-documented issues Barcelona had with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations in registering new players.
Williams is aware of this previous problem, and his request is for club president Joan Laporta to indicate that his registration with La Liga will not be as difficult.
This is understandable as Barcelona needs to deal with their wage bill and get through new La Liga restrictions on finances: they may be obliged to offload players to free up salary cap space.
In spite of these complications, there is optimism around the transfer. Barcelona and Williams have reportedly agreed to a six-year contract, with a gradual salary increase structure that starts lower and grows, which will help with registration.
This flexibility demonstrates Williams’s willingness to wear the Blaugrana shirt, but Barcelona must figure out a way to create new streams of revenue through potentially player sales, or by partially reopening the Camp Nou, before it can be finalized.
While negotiations are ongoing, the condition of Williams is a reminder of how precariously Barcelona needs to manage things to acquire their main target.
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