I have not had any displeasure about the fact that Nico Williams is not coming to Barça. He's a good player, who at 23 (which he'll turn next week) has a promising future, and who is capable of making his mark on a team with Athletic Club's potential, but for Barça, he wasn't indispensable.
For its part, Barça has involved itself and in a clumsy way in this failed signing. It was Deco who made that unforced error when he announced two weeks ago that "Nico was always our idea" and that "if Nico's circumstances arise, we'll try." A basic rule is not to talk about names until the signing is finalized, especially when Barça has had recent problems registering players, a situation that has now left it between arrogance and bitterness.
And, as expected, Nico's non-signing has become yet another episode in the Bilbao melodrama. The kid wanted to come to Barça (like almost everyone else) just now that Athletic will be playing in the Champions League again, eleven years after the last time. That the little doll with the red-and-white eyes wanted to leave was a hard blow to the always well-endowed Bilbao self-esteem, but that he wanted to go to Barça was a betrayal, the most unbearable disappointment, because decades ago (we could go back to Kubala, but we'll leave it at the Cle era), Athletic has been determined to be offended by anything Barça says or does, for the enjoyment of the Madrid public. Of course, if Nico had ended up wearing white, there wouldn't have been such a vitriolic response about Barça these days. The fact is that Athletic has saved the pearl of its youth academy and Barça must continue looking for the pieces that round out a team that delighted the world last year.
