Chelsea star defends Nico Williams over Barcelona snub | OneFootball

Chelsea star Marc Cucurella has this week moved to defend fellow countryman Nico Williams.

This of course comes after the Athletic Club standout made the call to reject a transfer to Barcelona for the 2nd summer in succession.

The name of wide-man Nico of course dominated the headlines in Catalunya’s capital once more earlier this summer.

As much came after widespread confirmation was forthcoming that Barcelona had reactivated their efforts to bring the 22-year-old in from Athletic.

Just when it appeared as though the transfer was a sure thing, however, Nico, out of the blue, pulled the plug on the operation.

The attacker, instead, made the call to put pen to paper on a lucrative long-term contract extension in Bilbao.

This decision culminated in a heavy backlash across Spain, with Barcelona’s supporters having quickly pushed the narrative that Nico prioritised money over potential footballing success.

As alluded to above, however, one individual who does not share such an opinion is Marc Cucurella.

Speaking during an interview with Blaugrana insider Gerard Romero (as cited by Albert Ortega) this week, it was put to Chelsea star Cucurella that:

“They gave Nico Williams a lot of cash and he prioritized that over sporting growth…”

The left-back, however, made use of the opportunity to defend his international teammate, in responding:

“It wasn’t that. He got scared that Barça wouldn’t register him. What does he do if they can’t register him? I don’t trust anyone.”

Conor Laird – GSFN