Barcelona is accused of telling lies around their attempts to sign Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao, a failed deal that probably led that Marcus Rashford arrived from Manchester United instead
Inaki Williams has said that Barcelona has performed a “dirty” media campaign this summer to sign his brother Nico of Athletic Bilbao.
A failed attempt to sign the Spain International apparently led to that Barca shifted their focus instead to a loan agreement for Marcus Rashford, with an obligation to buy next summer.
However, Inaki Williams, captain of Athletic Club, has said that the majority of the reporting of the transfer of his brother or sister who never happened was a lie.
“My brother does not come to Barca? Much of what was said about Nico is a lie,” said Inaki Williams. “They have performed a media campaign, thinking that it would work for them. They have many things dirty.
“My brother Nico had many options to go, not just one of B. What happened to Nico was not easy. She (supporters of Athletic Club) broke one of his car windows.
“At the family level it has been a bit complicated because a lot has been talked about my brother, and much of what was said about Nico is not true. The only thing he has done remains silent.
“Everyone has the right to think and think about their future. On many points this summer people have not been honest for my brother. If someone goes to a restaurant and they get the menu, it sometimes takes minutes to choose.
“My brother's decision was not easy. Nico's maturity was incredible, with a wide range of options, and he chose Athletic, a club that makes gigantic progress, and we have one of the best teams in these 12 years that I have been to the first team.”
Barcelona Chef Joan Laporta claimed earlier this month that a “big difference” in payment conditions had withdrawn them from the race to sign Nico Williams before they finally decided to sign Rashford on loan from Manchester United. They were also interested in Luis Diaz before he left Liverpool to Bayern Munich.
“The Agent of Nico Williams came to us and offered the opportunity to sign him,” he said Marca. “Deco told me that we had to listen to the proposal of Nico Williams's agent. My priority was in principle Luis DÃaz or Rashford. In these cases I always trust the sporting directors who told me that we had to listen to what he suggested.
“There was a big difference between what we were told and what actually happened in terms of payment conditions, the agent's committee … a whole series of variables that indicated that the deal would not happen.”
Williams then signed a new 10-year-old deal with the Basque club with his brother who now insisted that Barca's comments are far from the goal.