A couple of weeks ago, Joan Laporta had boldly claimed that Barcelona have the finances to sign Nico Williams. However, these claims might not be true, as per Victor Font.
Font was the one who ran against Laporta in the club’s last presidential election and he has been claiming that Barcelona do not have the money to sign the Bilbao winger this summer.
He told The Athletic: “I wish we could sign Nico Williams because that’s what we need. The president has said that it is possible, but that is not true. Today it cannot be done. We hope that it will be possible tomorrow. But today, it is not.
“The members want to dream and believe what they tell us. The problem is that they have been telling us for three summers that everything is fine, that we will sign players and that everything is resolved. With each passing year, credibility falls. And this summer, if promises are not kept, credibility will fall even more.”
Are Barcelona going to miss out on Nico Williams?
Last month, Laporta had said: “Economically speaking, we could commit to the signing of Nico Williams. Nico’s a player I like — I like him a lot. We are working with [new coach Hansi] Flick on possible signings. Now we have to leave [sporting director] Deco to close the operations we are working on.”
However, if Font’s claims are true then Barcelona are in massive trouble because multiple reports have said that Nico Williams is the club’s top target for this window.
To add to this chaos, some rumours have suggested that Nico Williams is having doubts about joining the Catalans because he fears that they won’t be able to register him in time for the 24-25 season.
Font is a rival to Laporta so he has every reason to go against him but Barca’s financial issues are very much out in the open. Instead of going after their primary summer targets, the club is busy securing various loan deals like those of Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.
Despite all these issues, Barcelona are still the favourites to sign the 22-year-old winger but no doubt, time is running out for the Deco and co. They have been standing at the front of the queue for more than two weeks now but they are still no closer to signing Nico Williams than they were before the Euro.
Who will most likely sign the winger if Barca miss out?
Nico Williams had a wonderful season with Athletic Bilbao and then backed it up by lifting the European Championship with Spain so naturally, Barcelona aren’t the only team interested in the 22-year-old.
Apart from the Catalans, PSG, Chelsea and Arsenal have all shown an interest in him and if Barca cannot make positive approaches soon then there’s no doubt that Williams will start talking with all these other clubs.
Bilbao are just waiting for the €58 million release clause to be triggered and if Barca cannot bring in the necessary funds in time then Paris Saint-Germain are likeliest to get their hands on him.
Chelsea and Arsenal have been strong admirers of Nico Williams and they will love to have him on board but the 22-year-old will want to join a club where he faces minimal to no competition next season. However, at Arsenal, he will have to compete with Gabriel Martinelli for a spot in the first XI while at Chelsea, he will be challenged by the likes of Mudryk and Raheem Sterling.
At PSG, he will have a much more stable and secure environment because Kylian Mbappe has left the club to join Real Madrid so Nico Williams has the chance to be the long-term replacement for the French international.
