JAKARTA - A surprise on the Spanish La Liga transfer market. Winger Nico Williams canceled his move to Barcelona. Because of this, Williams signed a new contract at Athletic Bilbao for the next 10 years.
Williams has been said to have joined Barca. Especially after he reached a personal agreement with Los Cules.
However, Barca's negotiations with Bilbao about Williams' transfer have not been completed. Even the player who also brought the Spanish national team to win at Euro 024 never pack up to move to Camp Nou.
When there was no certainty about his move, Williams suddenly signed a new contract at Bilbao. According to the club's website quoted by Football Espana, Williams was unmitigated from his club until 2035.
"When the decision has been made. To me who really is in my heart. I want to be where I really want him. Together with others, this is my house. Go Athletic!" Williams said.
By signing a new contract, Williams failed to return to Barca. Previously, Barca had hunted down the 22-year-old while competing in the European Cup. Barca's actions infuriated Bilbao and sparked a Spanish football federation that was considered to have failed to protect the players.
At that time, Barca was sure Williams would join. But the news was eventually raw because the player remained in Bilbao.
Williams himself is a product of Bilbao's coaching system. In the senior team, he has played 167 times by scoring 31 goals and making 30 assists.
Williams helped Zuri-Gorriak (Red and White) win the 2024 Copa del Rey. This 2025/2026 season, he returned to competing in the Champions League.
Previously, Barca was widely rumored to have recruited Williams who was also targeted by Bayern Munich. Investigating a calibaration, Barca turned out to have reached an agreement with the player's agent. The agent also urged Williams to accept an offer from the Blaugrana.
The news drew the anger of Bilbao supporters. As a result, they damaged a mural featuring Williams brothers, Nico and Inaki who had played 400 times with Bilbao.
Only if Barca recruited Williams would actually leave the problem. The reason is, clubs must be able to register Williams instead when they are experiencing financial difficulties.
SEE ALSO:
To register Williams, Barca had to sell a number of players. But it's not easy for Barca to sell players because there are no enthusiasts.
Bilbao then gave Williams a new contract. Williams' contract extension announcement was made in front of a mural that was previously damaged by supporters.
The club requested that the mural be repaired before being used to announce the player's contract.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
