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Arsenal remain keen on signing Athletic Bilbao ace Williams

By on August 28, 2024

Nico-Williams-Spain

Arsenal reportedly remain keen on signing Athletic Bilbao star Nico Williams, as per the transfer journalist Dean Jones.

After ranking through the Basque club’s youth system, the 22-year-old has established himself as one of the forwards in La Liga in recent times.

Following that, he was selected to play for Spain in the European Championship and helped his country win the competition by defeating England in the final, scoring a goal versus the Three Lions.

The youngster’s recent emergence hasn’t gone unnoticed as he has attracted a lot of attention from several big clubs around Europe with Barcelona among those previously made an attempt to sign him.

Now, speaking on Ranks FC Podcast, Jones has reported that Arsenal love the player and would purchase him right away if they could.

However, the player’s wage demand is a big stumbling block in securing his signature. Moreover, the journalist says that the player is more keen on joining Barcelona than Arsenal.

Williams to Arsenal

But, the Blaugrana don’t have the financial muscle to hire him at the moment, so Jones says Arsenal could get another chance to sign him.

He said:

“Nico Williams, they still love up to right now. I think they would sign Nico Williams tomorrow if they could. There are problems more around his wages than an actual transfer fee that would be needed. There’s also the desire of the player. I don’t think he doesn’t want to join Arsenal, I just think he’d prefer to join Barcelona. I’m waiting to see if that can crop up again for Arsenal.”

Williams has a £49m release clause in his current contract and his current wage is around £168,000-a-week[€200,000-per-week]. He is likely to demand a significant salary hike to move to the Emirates Stadium so he would become one of the highest earners of the club if Arsenal were to sign him.

The Spaniard has the potential to become one of the best attackers in the world in future so he would be a great coup for Arsenal if they purchase him.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t look likely that the North London club will sign the 22-year-old before the end of this transfer window.