Barcelona’s Financial Situation ‘Difficult’ to Gauge Amid Interest in Chelsea, PSG Target

Athletic Club’s Nico Williams is attracting interest from top European clubs, especially after his impressive performance at UEFA Euro 2024. Chelsea is particularly keen on the 21-year-old, and one of their players is potentially trying to persuade him to move to London.

A recent report from CaughtOffside mentions that Williams has caught the eye of several major clubs, including Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Barcelona, and PSG.

Barcelona are the club with the major hurdles because of their financial situation and the fact that Athletic Club reportedly have no desire to negotiate for the player and want them to pay his €58 million release clause.

While talking to PSG Talk, journalist Robin Bairner discussed Barcelona’s financial situation regarding the funds to pursue Williams, whom the Parisians could use to replace Kylian Mbappé, who left for Real Madrid this summer.

“I think if you read the Spanish press, it’s so difficult to make a judgment call in terms of how much money Barcelona actually have,” Bairner said. “On the one hand, you’ve got [Barcelona president] Joan Laporta coming out and saying that they’ve rejected a quarter of a billion euros from PSG to sign Lamine Yamal.

“But on the other hand, they’re struggling to make any signings at all, whether that’s a £20 million deal or €50-odd million for Nico Williams, which appears to be one of the bargains of the market at the moment. He looks absolutely on fire in the Euros and he’s obviously coming off a stellar season with Athletic Club.”

Williams featured in 37 matches across all competitions, scoring nine goals and providing 19 assists.