Inaki Williams on Barcelona pursuit of Nico – ‘Many of the things they said were lies’ | OneFootball

Athletic Club captain Inaki Williams has railed against Barcelona for their attempts to sign his younger brother Nico Williams this summer. After a lengthy pursuit of the 22-year-old last summer, Barcelona moved for the Basque star again, but instead the younger Williams committed his future to Los Leones.

The story went that while Barcelona were in pursuit of Luis Diaz, Williams’ agent got in touch with Director of Football Deco to declare an interest in a move to Barcelona. However three weeks later, with Barcelona unable to give them guarantees that he would be registered, a new deal with Athletic was announced. Barcelona President Joan Laporta has publicly declared this was the case.

‘A lot of what was said were lies’ – Inaki Williams

In a press conference during preseason, the older Williams brother accused Barcelona of mounting a media campaign to try and persuade his brother to join the club.

“We all know how the world of football works. They wanted to apply pressure on Athleticzales, on my brother. They put together a media campaign that they thought would work. I think, us, Athletic as a club, when we want a player, we do it under the radar.”

“It’s done a lot of damage. It’s sullied a lot of things. Many of the things that they said, that were leaked to the media or on social media, were lies. I’ll be honest, my brother had more or less taken the decision, but we still had to put together and redact a contract that was very large. To commit until 2035. You couldn’t just announce it from one day to the next.”

There has been plenty of debate surrounding Nico Williams, with many sources claiming that it was Nico Williams that made his interest in a move to Barcelona clear, rather than the other way around. However it is not the first time that Barcelona have used intense public pressure as a tool in their pursuit of a player. It is not the first time that this tactic has drawn the ire of those on the other end of it either.

Other teams unhappy with Athletic Club

Athletic have received plenty of criticism for their own pursuits of players in the Basque Country, making their interest in Osasuna’s Jesus Areso known well in advance of activating his release clause, and agreeing a deal with ex-Real Sociedad playmaker Robert Navarro a year in advance of his contract expiring.

Image via Inaki Williams / Twitter / X

Why Nico Williams didn’t squash speculation

Many Athletic fans had wondered why, if indeed Nico Williams was not interested in a move to Barcelona, he did not kill the story himself.

“Things happened that sullied what Athletic wanted to achieve. They vandalised the mural twice, they went to my brother’s house, they broke one of the windows of his car. Things that happen that maybe people don’t know, but that have a big impact on a footballer. On what he has decided.”

“And it’s very easy, from the sofa, to say ‘why didn’t you do this?’, or ‘why didn’t you say that?’, when you’re suffering on a personal level. And my brother has suffered, and as the captain of Athletic Club, it’s not easy.”

‘Not an easy time for my family’

The older Williams brother went on to explain that ‘it has not been an easy summer for my family’, due to the speculation surrounding his younger brother. He also noted that for Nico Williams it was not a case of Athletic Club or Barcelona, but many more teams also pursued his signature. Bayern Munich had reportedly made him offers too, before he signed his deal until 2035.