Barcelona want to follow an Arsenal blueprint to sign Nico Williams | OneFootball

The brass at La Liga champions Barcelona are hopeful of working out an agreement to pay a sum in excess of Nico Williams’ release clause, to land the 22-year-old from Athletic Club.

That’s according to Diario Sport, who have on Friday provided an insight into the situation.

The name of wide-man Nico has of course dominated the headlines in Catalunya’s capital across the week to date.

This comes after Barcelona opted to reignite their pursuit of the Spanish international.

Deco and his team of directors have since worked out the terms of a contract with Nico, who appears more eager than ever to link up with Hansi Flick’s squad for next season.

The problem for Barcelona, however, lies in the financial details.

Athletic Club have to date been completely unwilling to negotiate the terms of a transfer, leaving the Blaugrana with only one option: to activate Nico’s release clause.

As alluded to above, though, despite claims to the contrary in the media over recent days, the board at the Camp Nou are nevertheless hopeful of entering into discussions with their counterparts in the Basque Country.

As per a report from Sport, this comes with a view to following the lead of Premier League outfit Arsenal, in negotiations with Real Sociedad for Martín Zubimendi:

‘FC Barcelona are considering offering Athletic Club an agreement similar to the one that Real Sociedad has reached with Arsenal for the transfer of Martín Zubimendi. The Gunners will pay an amount of more than the €60 million of the clause in exchange for being able to split the payment into installments.’

It now remains to be seen whether or not Athletic Club are open to such a formula.

Conor Laird – GSFN