Athletic Club president Jon Uriarte took advantage of the presentation of Álvaro Djaló and Andoni Gorosabel as the new players of the red-and-white team to attack the leaders of the Spanish Football Federation for having allowed the future of Nico Williams, one of the most outstanding players of the national team during the European Championship, to be inflated. According to Uriarte, “Nico, a footballer who is very committed to Athletic, has been subjected to a bombardment of questions about his future in an excessive and uncontrolled way, when he is concentrated to play in the European Championship by the Spanish Football Federation, which has not known how to protect him.” According to the top leader of the Bilbao club, “respect between all the actors that make up football is a fundamental basis, or so we conceive it at Athletic Club, which does not have as a formula to subject players with contracts in other clubs to public pressure in order to try to sign them.”
He refers, without naming him, aside from the campaign by various media outlets that link the future of the youngest of the Williams brothers with Barcelona, to its president, Joan Laporta, who referred to the matter openly, when, in response to questions from journalists, he stated that, “today, we can afford to sign Nico Williams financially speaking. I like Nico, a lot. We have to let Deco work to try to close the deals.”
Nico Williams has a contract with Athletic until June 2027, having signed it just a few months ago. Despite speculation about his release clause, it has never been made public, although some sources put it at around 60 million euros.
However, the Bilbao president challenges the suitors, with his statement that, “Athletic aspires to the maximum, without limits. We are showing that we have an attractive and winning project for our players and coach”, and the proof is that, “we have recently renewed the contracts of two of our internationals, Unai Simón (until 2029) and Dani Vivian (until 2031). Nico signed last year until 2027”, and also, “coveted players such as Sancet, Prados, Julen Agirrezabala, and Paredes, to give some examples, have committed for several seasons”. And he launches a warning: “Athletic Club is economically, socially and sportingly capable of keeping players of the stature of those named in its structure, including Nico Williams”.
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