Barcelona have failed to get a deal over the line for Nico Williams this summer, despite being heavily linked with the Athletic Club star. The latest in Catalonia is that Barcelona will return for the 22-year-old next summer.
Williams appeared to reject the possibility of a move to Barcelona, although there were still doubts about his ability to pay his €58m release clause. However Sport say that Williams had given the green light for a move to the Blaugrana, but he imposed certain conditions that the Blaugrana could not meet.
The Basque ailier did not want to leave Bilbao in poor terms, and asked that the agreement be closed in a quick way, and also that they guarantee that they could register immediately. This was something Barcelona were confident they could do, but could not guarantee.
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The proof is in Dani Olmo, who was registered only after Andreas Christensen was injured, and his salary was used to help register Olmo under the emergency injury rule. One of the reasons Barcelona thought they could sign Williams was the potential new sponsorship deal with Nike, which they are still working on but have yet to go through this summer.
Barcelona had also planned to hand over the number 10 shirt to Williams, and considered selling Ansu Fati. Provided that the conditions are right, Barcelona's intention is to sign Williams next summer.
