With the transfer window nearing a close, it looks like Edu Gaspar might have a trick up his sleeve to secure a marquee signing for Arsenal. Could this be a player Barcelona have been chasing all summer despite their financial difficulties, like their inability to register Dani Olmo?
It’s almost comical to watch Barcelona go about their business season after season. Every summer, the club faces the same dilemma: can they register their new signings for La Liga? This situation has resulted in unceremonious exits for club legends like Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. The latest player to be caught in this mess is Ilkay Gundogan who is reportedly close to rejoining Manchester City just a summer after leaving them for free.
Despite the lack of wage room to register existing players for La Liga, Deco & co. continue to pursue new players in the market. Barcelona’s management of the club could fill a 500-page book, highlighting the chaos behind the scenes. For instance, they signed Olmo from RB Leipzig this summer and are now unable to register him. Boy, can you imagine the fiasco that would have transpired had they managed to sign Nico Williams?
One of the worst-kept secrets of the summer is Barcelona’s interest in the 22-year-old Spaniard. Joan Laporta came out early in the window and made a rather outlandish statement about their ability to sign Nico Williams only for the Basque winger to reject their approach quite subtly by taking the #10 at Bilbao and revealing that he was looking forward to wearing it for a long time.
Could Arsenal be working behind the scenes?
TNAT have revealed today that Arsenal are still working on signing Nico Williams this summer. That’s quite an outlandish claim for a player who has given no indication about his future other than the fact that he would love to stay at Bilbao. So, could the Gunners accomplish something that Barcelona couldn’t?
The answer, we think, is NO! Would Nico be a good addition to Mikel Arteta’s squad? Absolutely! He would be an unbelievable addition, potentially starting ahead of Gabriel Martinelli and forming a dynamic duo with Bukayo Saka on the opposite wing. Everything points to the Spaniard being a resounding success at the Emirates.
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However, it’s been suggested that Nico rejected a transfer to Barcelona was that he had made a promise to his brother, Inaki Williams to play in Europe with Bilbao. Ernesto Valverde’s side find themselves in the Europa League this season giving him a chance to fulfil his promise. If this promise has any truth to it, the 22-year-old is not going to say yes to Arsenal either.
Could Nico Williams’ wage demands block Arsenal move?
Even if Nico was to say yes, we still don’t know if Arsenal can afford the wage demands of the 22-year-old. He earns around £170k per week on his current contract with the Basque club and will surely ask for more if he was to make the transfer. PSG were willing to offer him double of what he is earning right now.
Of course, the Gunners cannot and should not even attempt to pay him anywhere close to what the Parisians were offering but if they are to sign Nico, they might have to make him one of their highest-paid players. Currently, Kai Havertz is the highest paid Arsenal player earning around £280k a week. Nico has not proved enough in his career to earn such a high salary.
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As much as it would have been sweet to outmanoeuvre Barcelona and sign Nico this summer, it would be a pleasant surprise if the transfer materialized. However, the Spanish winger is one to keep an eye out for in the future and who knows, Arsenal could find themselves in another battle with the Catalan giants next summer.
