'Not everything that glitters is gold' - Nico Williams warned off Barcelona transfer

Barcelona target Nico Williams has been warned against a high profile transfer to Camp Nou by Athletic Club teammate Oscar de Marcos, insisting that the Euro 2024 breakout star needs to make his own decision and not be led by pressure or expectation.

Williams has been a first-team player in Bilbao for three years, but his career leapt into overdrive at the recent European Championship with Spain, culminating with a goal and player of the match performance in the final against England.

Arsenal and Chelsea have been linked with the 22-year-old, whose availability is made possible by a €58m (£49m) release clause, but it is Barcelona who are overwhelming favourites, despite financial limitations restricting their ability to trigger that.

Barca president Joan Laporta has already teased an approach by telling fans "we will try" when asked if the club is going to sign Williams.

"It seems like there is a tide that when Barca wants you, you have to go, otherwise you make a mistake, but many times you have to keep in mind that not everything that glitters is gold," De Marcos said, via Mundo Deportivo.

"You have to evaluate where we are. For Nico, it is a delicate situation. There is a lot of noise. It seems that this pressure can get to you, but each one has to make decisions for themselves. He is an Athletic player, he will have the last word, we trust that he will stay with us."

De Marcos continued: "You have to make the decisions yourself. I have no idea what he is thinking. He must be going over things in his head a thousand times. My opinion is that the best thing for him is to continue.

"He is 22-years-old, he is in the right place to continue the ideal progression for a footballer. Every year he is getting better, he is with the coach who has gotten the most out of him and who will continue for another year.

"He has gone to the national team, he has been one of the best in the European Championship, he is in the right place, in an incredible dressing room, his brother [Inaki] is there, a dressing room that loves him.

"It is the ideal place to continue maturing and he has a sense of belonging to Athletic. I hope he puts everything in the balance, but the only thing we want is the best for him. What worries me most is that he makes the decision himself. I have a lot of affection for him, I want him to make the decision freely, that way he will make the right one.

"There is a lot of pressure, perhaps that will not allow him to make the decision freely. Let him make his own decision, nothing more."

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