Athletic Club hit with blow as Nico Williams injury report is revealed – out of Arsenal clash | OneFootball

Athletic Club were facing a nervous wait to see the extent of Nico Williams’ injury which forced him off before half-time in Spain’s win over Turkiye. He will miss the return of Champions League football to San Mames.

The Basque winger was in fine form for La Roja before pulling up with what appeared to be a groin issue. He was replaced by Ferran Torres before the break in Konya, and afterwards, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente revealed that his adductor muscle was affected.

Nico Williams suffers ‘moderate muscle injury’

Athletic Club have announced that Williams has suffered a ‘moderate injury to his left adductor’, but gave little information beyond that. Diario AS assure that Williams will be out for at least two weeks, and Marca have provided a much more gloomy prognosis. They say that the two weeks is a minimum, and the 22-year-old could miss as much as six weeks, which would rule him out until after the next international break in mid-October.

Image via Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

How many games will Nico Williams miss?

Williams will certainly be out of Athletic’s home tie against Alaves, and the visit of Arsenal to Bilbao in their Champions League debut this season, their first game in Europe’s premier competition in a decade. He is also out for their trip to Valencia, and unlikely to make their game against Girona three days later.

If Marca’s diagnosis is accurate, then Williams is also at risk of missing crucial games against Villarreal (A), Borussia Dortmund (A) and RCD Mallorca (H).

Athletic Club alternatives

Ernesto Valverde has been deprived of his best front four for much of 2025, with Inaki Williams, Alex Berenguer and Oihan Sancet likely to start without Nico Williams. One of Maroan Sannadi or Gorka Guruzeta is likely to play through the middle, with the former mostly preferred of late. New signing Robert Navarro has also made an impact off the bench of late.