Athletic Club chief confirms stance on Nico Williams sale

Athletic Club vice-president Jon Ruigomez has revealed the club have taken a calm approach to convincing Nico Williams that his future lies with the Basque side.

Williams was attracting interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona even before his dazzling Euro 2024 campaign, with his release clause of €58m (£49m) widely viewed as an enormous bargain in today's market.

Despite the interest in his services, Williams is believed to have decided to remain with Athletic and even hinted at such a choice in a video on the club's social media channels.

While Athletic are powerless to block an exit to any side who triggers his release clause, Ruigomez insisted the club have long been working to convince Williams to remain and are now confident of a positive outcome.

"If things are done well and there is a project, there is peace of mind," he told Cadena SER. "Athletic is a reason for excitement, I think this is something that usually happens and does not change from one day to the next. People are looking forward to an exciting year.

"It is not a question of knowing or not knowing [whether Williams will leave], it is a question of staying calm, of having confidence in the work that is being done, that there is a project, that there is a lot of enthusiasm and with these elements, what has to happen, happens."

Reports suggest Barcelona were surprised by Williams' public video as they have not yet given up hope of luring the 22-year-old over to Camp Nou alongside fellow Spain star Dani Olmo.

An agreement worth around €62m (£53.4m) has been struck to sign Olmo, who began his career in the Barcelona academy but failed to make a senior appearance before taking the unconventional decision to head to Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb in 2014.

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