How Hansi Flick Reacted to Nico Williams’s Barcelona Snub | OneFootball

Hansi Flick’s immediate response to the news that Nico Williams had rebuffed Barcelona’s advances to sign a new 10-year contract at Athletic Club was much the same as everyone else: surprise.

Without running negotiations, the Barcelona manager would surely have been kept abreast of the increasingly positive developments surrounding the club’s pursuit of Williams. Despite Athletic’s very public attempts to derail Barcelona’s approach for their star player, the defending La Liga champions had reportedly agreed personal terms with the forward.

All that remained was the payment of Williams’s €62 million ($71.3 million) release clause. However, before Barcelona could mercifully end their year-long pursuit of the Spain international, Athletic triumphantly announced that Williams would remain in Bilbao until 2035.

Bayern Munich, Flick’s former club, had been another interested suitor before ultimately (and, evidently, prematurely) accepting that Barcelona had won the race.

When asked by BR24Sport if he was ‘surprised’ by Williams’s decision, Bayern’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß spluttered: “We all were—I’m also in close contact with Hansi Flick, who’s currently vacationing at Tegernsee, and he was surprised too, because they had more or less already received a commitment.

Nico Williams has rejected a move to Barcelona. / IMAGO/AOP.Press

“I don’t quite understand what he wants with this. But apparently, some people want more money.”

Upon confirmation of the new deal, Athletic also revealed that the release clause in Williams’s contract has been increased by “more than 50%”. The proudly traditional club typically only sell players if their buy-out clause is met as they restrict themselves to only signing players born or raised in the Basque Country, thereby ensuring a sum in excess of €90 million ($105.5 million) if Williams does leave in the future.

Barcelona’s directors, coaching staff and players reportedly learned about Williams’s decision to stay at Athletic through the hastily filmed social media post put out by the Basque club. The reason for this unexpected change of heart is thought to revolve around a specific clause in his proposed Barcelona contract.

Having seen Dani Olmo be de-registered and face six months on the sidelines midway through the 2024–25 season after Barcelona failed to find room within La Liga’s strict salary budget for his wages, it has been claimed that Williams was wary of suffering the same uncertain fate. The player’s representatives reportedly requested the inclusion of a clause which would allow their client to be immediately released should he be unable to play due to financial restrictions. Barcelona refused. As Flick would surprisingly discover, this proved to be a dealbreaker.

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