Athletic Club icon criticises Barcelona director over Nico Williams saga: ‘Threw the boy to the wolves’ | OneFootball

The Nico Williams-Barcelona saga was one of the stories of the summer transfer window.

The Athletic Club winger appeared all set to join Barcelona, with the club making preparations to pay his release clause and reaching an agreement over a contract.

However, a sudden U-turn from the player and his camp saw the Spanish international snub the Blaugrana and sign a new long-term contract with the Basque club.

Rafa Alkorta hits out at Deco

Now, former Athletic Club footballer and sporting director, Rafa Alkorta, has hit out Barcelona director Deco over how the entire Nico Williams case was handled.

Deco had come out and spoken openly about the talks that were held between the two camps before the move eventually fell through, something that Alkorta has been critical of in the past as well.

“I thought what he did was wrong. He threw the boy, who had a contract with Athletic, to the wolves,” he said.

“That really shocked me, knowing that Deco was a footballer and understands the quicksand that surrounds these circumstances.”

Deco facing criticism over the Nico Williams transfer saga. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Alkorta further explained that the situation during the summer was straightforward and that Nico and his agent made a clear demand, regarding his registration, that Barcelona were unable to meet.

“I think Nico’s representatives did the right thing in saying to Barça: ‘OK, if you have no problem with the lad, sign one of these clauses in the contract’ and that’s it,” he said, referring to the release clause that the player’s camp asked for in case the Blaugrana would be unable to register him.

“And Barça said no because they knew they couldn’t do it 100%. And that’s it, there’s no more to it than that,” Alkorta added.

Driving down on his point, he once again noted: “The question is: why didn’t Barça sign that clause? Because they knew they weren’t 100% sure they could field the player from the first league match.

“The player and his representatives said they were staying here, and that was that.”

Source: SPORT