Spanish side ‘will sell’ Arsenal target Arteta ‘asked’ for but Man Utd could ruin their plans | OneFootball

Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams will be allowed to leave the Spanish side in the summer transfer window, with a report detailing how Arsenal and Man Utd are leading candidates.

The Spain international stunned everyone in football when he signed a new ten-year deal at San Mames last season to temporarily end speculation about his future.

However, revelations that the new contract contained a €100million (£87m / $119m) release clause saw those rumours ramp up again this season.

Injury problems have limited his impact for Bilbao this season with the 23-year-old contributing just four goals and three assists in 25 matches in all competitions.

Still only young, Williams remains one of the most sought-after attacking talents in world football and there are plenty of links as we head towards the summer.

Reports in Spain are claiming that Athletic Bilbao have now decided that they ‘will sell’ Williams in the summer with a number of Premier League clubs looking to take advantage of the ‘unexpected turn’.

And ‘the club would accept offers below his release clause’ with Man Utd emerging ‘as one of the leading candidates to acquire the services’ as the Red Devils look to ‘bolster’ their attack.

Mikel Arteta ‘has also asked the Arsenal board to monitor the player’s situation given the potential departures of his current wingers’ with the Gunners looking to replace Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard.

It is claimed that Bilbao will opt for a quick sale in the summer if Arsenal were to ‘decide to offer around €80m’ with Williams’ injury record their ‘only point of concern’.

Williams is ready to consider a summer exit

As revealed in mid-February, Arsenal have been told by intermediaries that Nico Williams is ready to consider a summer exit from Athletic Bilbao.

The Basque side are currently tenth in La Liga and their form this season is set to plan a major part in his thinking, as Barcelona and Arsenal have long been the two clubs that most appeal to him.

Williams fits the profile Arteta values and those inside the club have been told he is someone they should keep on their radar, sources say.

Barcelona shouldn’t be ruled out as the Catalan giants’ sporting director Deco revealed last year that it was Williams and his agent that approached them about a move, not the other way round.

Deco said in September: “Nico wasn’t the exact profile we wanted, but he can play on the left and the right. And Ferran was becoming a ‘9’, and you take him out of the equation on the wings.

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“If you bring in Nico, you have a right and a left wing, but not so much the ‘9’ profile. If a great player like Nico asks us to come, when the agent looks for us, we’ll talk, and that’s how it’s been.

“Football is like that; the player, for whatever reason, didn’t want the conditions that were proposed. The agent has his interests, and we don’t know how things are going, but there’s no controversy.

“It’s a very easy matter. He gives you a right and a left wing, he doesn’t give you the ‘9’ aspect, but if you don’t have the other solutions, it would suit us because he’s a great player and could give you two of the three positions.”

Deco added: “There’s no mistake, we simply set the club’s conditions, then we have to put the negotiations on paper, into contracts, and we said we wouldn’t accept the conditions they set us because no player is going to impose any restrictions on us, and in the end, nothing happens. We gave them a deadline to respond, but they didn’t respond; they went their way, and we went ours.

“It’s not a matter of registration guarantees; it’s very simple. It’s just that if you’re going to negotiate, tell me everything you need and what you want, and don’t change it afterward. That’s it. And I won’t say any more about this topic; it’s been talked about too much, too much nonsense, even in Bilbao.”

Arsenal have been handed a huge boost as they eye a move for Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez in the summer after reportedly having a huge initial bid turned down for him last month.

After the former Man City striker responded to the possibility of leaving Madrid, Fabrizio Romano insisted that “the feeling is that things could happen in the summer transfer window”.

In other transfer news, Andrea Berta is ‘’working on a deal’ for RB Leipzig defnder Castello Lukeba, having ‘begun discussions’ for his signing ‘in recent weeks’.

A report in Spain has claimed that a ‘deal is done’ for Kepa Arrizabalaga to leave Arsenal at the end of the season after becoming ‘tired’ of his back-up role.

It is said that La Liga side Villareal after he ‘gave the okay’ for this transfer to go through once the next transfer window opens.