Athletic Bilbao leave €70m Barcelona target out of travelling squad

The Nico Williams and Barcelona transfer saga has dragged on for weeks now without a clear indication of which way it is going to end. Everyone thought that the 22-year-old made his intentions clear when he returned to training with Athletic Bilbao ahead of schedule.

Barcelona then proceeded to wrap up a deal for Dani Olmo and the 26-year-old is currently in the club’s offices to sign his contract until 2030. However, it seems all hope is not lost with Nico Williams.

We covered a story earlier today revealing that Barcelona had not given up hope on signing the 22-year-old but Athletic Bilbao remain calm about the situation. Nico continues to train with the Basque club despite not sorting out his future. Transfermarkt currently values the Spaniard for around €70m.

Barcelona have now been handed their biggest boost yet in their pursuit of Nico. As per SPORT, the 22-year-old has been left out by Ernesto Valverde from the traveling squad to Germany for their final pre-season clash against VFB Stuttgart.

This is a clear indication that things are going on behind the scenes regarding Nico’s future. Valverde doesn’t want to incorporate the player into the squad when his future still remains uncertain.

Just when hope was dying down with Barcelona fans, this news will give them a lot of hope. Despite signing Olmo, Nico is what the Cules want this summer and signing the 22-year-old would be a major coup.

If the Catalan club manage to sign Nico Williams, it will be a dream transfer window. He would sort out the left-wing conundrum for Hansi Flick and add a new level of electricity to the front line.