Athletic Bilbao question Barcelona's ability to sign Williams

Athletic Bilbao have questioned whether Barcelona have the capability to sign Nico Williams while adhering to financial rules, following talks with LaLiga.

Last week, Barcelona's sporting director Deco confirmed the Blaugrana intend to move for Williams, who played a key role in Spain's triumphant Euro 2024 run.

Liverpool's Luis Diaz had also been linked with Barca, but reports suggest they are hoping to trigger a €58m release clause in Williams' contract with Bilbao.

However, in a statement released on Thursday, the Basque club confirmed they had met with LaLiga to express concerns over whether Barca are able to complete the deal.

Barca have been beset by financial issues for several years, after big-money moves for the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann failed to deliver an impact on the pitch.

Last season, Barca were initially barred from registering Dani Olmo and Pau Victor after LaLiga said those transfers left the club unable to comply with financial fair play rules, though they later won an appeal against that ruling.

Bilbao's statement read: "Athletic would like to thank LaLiga for its cooperation and clarity during a meeting between the two organisations, in which Javier Tebas and Jon Uriarte, respective presidents of each entity, were present.

"The meeting in Madrid was held in response to a request made by Athletic concerning compliance with financial fair play rules.

"Among the issues discussed was Barcelona's ability to sign players. Athletic have a legitimate interest in accessing relevant information about this, given that Barcelona's director of football, Deco, publicly acknowledged that they will try to sign a player from our first team, a player who is under contract until June 30, 2027.

"Deco's comments follow public statements made by Barcelona president [Joan] Laporta, who admitted that his club 'is working to comply with the rules' and that, as a result, it does not currently meet the requirements of those rules for player registration."

Laporta later hit back in comments of his own, telling reporters: "I don't understand Athletic's reaction. With all due respect, everyone should worry about their own business.

"I don't understand why they would go to LaLiga to speak about Barca, which is nothing to do with them, but each to their own."

Williams registered 18 goal involvements in all competitions for Bilbao last season, scoring 11 and assisting seven, while also completing more than twice as many dribbles (124) than any of his team-mates (brother Inaki Williams was second with 55).

His 70 chances created were also a team-high tally, while he overperformed his expected goals (xG) figures by 3.7.

Last year, Williams became the second-youngest player to net in a European Championship final when he scored the opener against England (22 years, two days, behind Italy's Pietro Anastasi in 1968 at 20 years and 64 days).

He had a higher expected assists (xA) total than any other player (2.06) at that tournament, striking up a fine understanding with Lamine Yamal, a potential team-mate at Barca.