It’s becoming clear that Nico Williams is Barcelona’s top priority for this summer’s transfer window. Officials at Can Barca are desperate to sign the 21-year-old winger, who’s had a very impressive Euro 2024 campaign with Spain, but the problem is that they currently cannot afford to sign him.
Barcelona want to advance the presentation of next season's home shirt to next week. @ffpolo
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 4, 2024
Athletic Club will not negotiate, so in order for Barcelona to get their man, they would need to pay his €58m release clause. Right now, that’s a non-starter, but with sales, it could be possible later in the summer.
Cadena SER say that the one player that is best-placed to be sacrificed by Barcelona in order to sign Williams is Raphinha. The 27-year-old would not be a starter on either wing if Williams joined, so in order for funds to be raised, he’d be someone that wouldn’t hurt too much for club officials.
Raphinha has a market value of €50m, but the likelihood is that Barcelona would want at least €70-80m for a sale to take place. They’d get that from Saudi Arabia, although Raphinha has no intention of heading to the Middle East – if he were to leave, it would be to return to the Premier League.
It will be interesting to see how Barcelona approach the market in the coming weeks. There’s no doubt that they will try for Williams, but if a big sale does not occur, it would be a very difficult deal to pull off.
