La Liga speedster was on Barcelona’s radar since 2023, confirms former director | OneFootball

Barcelona’s summer transfer window largely revolved around a player who eventually never arrived – Nico Williams.

Despite the Catalans reportedly set in pole position to sign the youngster multiple times over the summer, the Basque star opted to stay at Athletic Club for one more season as he had some unfulfilled dreams at his childhood club.

Barcelona’s interest in Nico, however, goes far back to when the youngster was at the end of his last contract as revealed by Jordi Cruyff in a recent interview.

Cruyff reveals Barcelona’s plan with Williams

Speaking to the media after Barcelona’s 1-2 defeat against Monaco, the club’s former sporting director revealed that the club had good reports about Nico in 2023 and hoped to sign him when his deal ran out in the summer.

“These are the moments when I have a bad memory, that was before and today is today. He was being watched, he was an interesting player whose contract was coming to an end,” said Cruyff, as quoted by SPORT.

Barça wanted Nico since last year, reveals Cruyff. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images for Soccerex)

“He has already been seen in the Euros, he is special, he is young and fits with almost all the big teams in Europe, who would already like to have him,” he added.

Aware of interest from European giants, however, Athletic Club pushed for a renewal with the winger and sealed it on December 1 2023, extending it from June 30 2024 to 2027.

In the process, the Basque club ensured that the player was not a free agent in June but his deal still included a €58 million release clause that Barcelona were willing to trigger.

Nico, however, opted to stay at the end and did not give the Blaugrana a chance to trigger the clause.

As for Jordi Cruyff, he left his role in the administration a few months before the start of the 2023-24 season and transferred his responsibilities to Deco who is now in the office.

While Barcelona failed to secure the youngster this summer, the outlet relays that they will be back next June hoping to lure the player to the Spotify Camp Nou. The player dreams of representing the club as well but wishes for a departure to be on good terms.