Barcelona set July 16 deadline to sign priority attacking target – report | OneFootball

Barcelona are looking to take their forward department to a new level with the incorporation of Nico Williams this summer. After all, the Basque winger is one of, if not the best in the world, in his position.

Athletic Club have not made negotiations easy for the Blaugrana in any capacity and have refused to discuss terms over any transfer, leaving the player’s €62 million release clause as the only viable route for signing him.

With the lumpsum payment set to be made, Barcelona were expected to complete the formality this week, with reports suggesting that the idea was to do it on Friday.

Now, however, TV3 relays that no particular date has been set yet for the Nico Williams operation.

Deadline in mind

Barcelona’s plan, as per initial reports, was to complete the signing of the winger by Friday so as to cut the drama and reduce the endless speculation.

After all, the primary goal of pushing it to July was simply to register the deal in the new financial year. Now, however, the report states that there is no fixed date in mind to pay out the release clause.

Barcelona want to sign Nico before July 16. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

All that Barcelona plan is to have him as a new player before July 16 so that he can avoid participating in Athletic Club’s pre-season.

Nico is scheduled to rejoin training on July 16, a few days later than the rest of his teammates, because the forward has a few more days of vacation after participating in the final phase of the UEFA Nations League.

The Catalans are confident of paying out the winger’s release clause within the next two weeks and there is thus little chance of the deal falling apart. After all, the player has his heart set on joining Barcelona.

There has been some tension in recent days with Nico demanding written guarantees of his registration, especially given the club’s recent history with Dani Olmo and Pau Victor.

All tensions, however, have reportedly relaxed and the deal is expected to go through unperturbed, but it might have to wait until next week.