Is it feasible for Barça to sign Nico Williams?

BarcelonaOne of the most glaring shortcomings of Hansi Flick's Barça this season has been the lack of valid attacking players. Beyond the trident formed by the prodigious Lamine Yamal, the decisive Raphinha Dias, and the veteran specialist Robert Lewandowski, only Ferran Torres has emerged as a consistent alternative when required for various reasons. Pau Víctor has never been an option considered by the coaches despite his surprising preseason, while Ansu Fati, the antithesis of his precociousness prime, He's had to settle for junk time. Therefore, it's a given that the Catalan club will sign an attacking player this summer to raise their game and compete with confidence in all competitions. This is the intention that emerges from the movements and comments. off the record Joan Laporta and his inner circle of collaborators. It's another matter if Barça's finances then turn ideas into official announcements.

The preferred option of Barça's sporting director, Anderson Luis de Souza, Deco, is Luis Díaz, Liverpool's starting left winger. The Colombian international, who scored 17 goals and assisted five times last season, isn't happy with the conditions the English club is setting for his renewal and is willing to move on at almost 29 years old. The main stumbling block to this signing is the price, as Anfield Road won't negotiate for less than €65 million. A less problematic option would be to offer Díaz a lucrative contract, as despite being indispensable to Arne Slot, he earns just over €3 million annually. It's this anomaly that motivates Deco to make a move to bring in a left-wing forward with immediate performance and valued for his work off the ball and his goal-scoring instinct.

The lack of this last ability – scoring goals – is one of the reasons why the Barça sporting director preferred to opt for Dani Olmo – last summer's star signing – rather than Nico Williams, a player proposed by Xavi Hernández who Joan Laporta ended up falling in love with. However, more than Deco's doubts, if the Athletic Club winger, who scored just five goals in the last La Liga season, didn't sign for Barça, it was because he didn't see his registration as clear. He wanted to compete alongside his friend Lamine Yamal, as he told those close to him during and after the Euros, and if he didn't, it was because of the Barcelona club's situation in terms of fair play His financial situation didn't provide him with any security. In fact, the subsequent difficulties in registering Olmo, who was only regularized thanks to a pardon from the CSD (Central Council of Statistics and Census), ended up justifying last summer's misgivings.

Almost twelve months have passed since that series, Barça's need to sign forwards persists, and Williams is once again exploring avenues to earn more money and, above all, more titles, which is precisely what Athletic cannot offer him. Given this situation, the newspaper Sport reported on a meeting between the player's agent, Félix Tainta, and Deco, in which both parties shared their hopes and limitations. The former conveyed what had been known for a year: that Williams is eager to play with Lamine Yamal and the entire group with whom he shares a project in the Spanish national team. And the latter expressed his interest with the asterisk of every summer: Barça's weak situation in terms of both the salary cap and cash flow.

The viability of a big signing depends on who leaves.

The Barça's financial precariousness contrasts with the players' excitement about making their debut at the future Camp Nou. Joan Garcia, for whom 25 million will be paid in cash, partly thanks to more debt due to having money in the box, That risk is worth it. He still doesn't know how he'll be registered in La Liga or if he'll have to share a project with Marc-André ter Stegen, but he already gave a heart-breaking yes to Espanyol fans a few days ago. Luis Díaz and Nico Williams would also be exposed to uncertainty in exchange for a box office alongside Lamine Yamal's. Now, is it viable to consider them as future players beyond the desire of those involved and the complacency of Barcelona fans?

In terms of registration, the recipe, taking into account the current conditions, is the same with the almost Barça player Garcia as it is with the exciting Williams and Díaz. On the one hand, sell players like the aforementioned Ter Stegen, Araujo, or even other more painful names. And, on the other, fight in the financial offices so that the impact of these sales is complete and not partial. In other words, return to the 1:1 rule of the fair play Financial, a level that Laporta hasn't consistently explored since winning the elections in 2021, would be the shortest route for any exit move to serve as an entry.

The viability of operations as ambitious as those of Luis Díaz or Nico Williams also implies having money available in the bank to pay for the transfer. Given this need, the possibility of negotiating with Liverpool for the Colombian would make things easier for Barça, who could agree to a payment in installments. On the other hand, given that Athletic Club would never speak with Laporta to reach an agreement, the Navarrese native would only be a Barça player with an income of 58 million euros, which is the amount of his release clause. This difference makes Díaz a more affordable target. But the Barça president likes a challenge and knows perfectly well that Lamine Yamal and the entire Barcelona fan base would cheer him on if he finds a way to sign Williams.