Deco Reveals What Happened with Barcelona's Failed Nico Williams Transfer
The sporting director of Barcelona explained the details of the club's interest in the Spanish international from Athletic Club.
In a recent interview with Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona's sporting director, Deco, shed light on the club's pursuit of Nico Williams during the summer transfer window. The Athletic Club winger was a key target to bolster Barcelona's attack, but ultimately, Williams decided to stay in Bilbao rather than trigger his release clause and move to the Catalan giants.
Deco confirmed the club's interest in Williams, stating that Barcelona had made efforts to bring him to Camp Nou, but acknowledged that the player made the final decision to remain at San Mamés. While Deco refrained from going into specifics about his conversations with Williams' agent, he made it clear that once the player expressed his intention to stay, the matter was closed.
“Nico is a player who, yes, we were interested in during the summer. We tried to bring him in, but from there, the player made a decision, and life goes on," Deco said. "We brought in Dani Olmo, who was our priority because we didn’t have that type of player in our squad. The idea with Nico was to add more competition upfront, because we wanted high-level competition, but once the player shows no interest in coming, there’s no further discussion.”
Deco also addressed Barcelona's current forward situation, affirming that the club is satisfied with their attacking options. He made a clear comparison to the defense, where the club had previously explored the possibility of signing Jonathan Tah from Bayer Leverkusen, but confirmed that the German center-back is no longer under consideration.
With the summer transfer window now behind them, Deco is focused on the current squad and the future direction of Barcelona, confident in the team's balance and depth as they aim to compete at the highest level.
