{"id":12585,"date":"2025-07-04T12:04:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T12:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12585"},"modified":"2025-07-04T12:04:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T12:04:03","slug":"nico-williams-signs-extension-with-athletic-bilbao-wont-move-to-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=12585","title":{"rendered":"Nico Williams signs extension with Athletic Bilbao, won&#8217;t move to Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Spain international Nico Williams has signed a new 10-year contract with Athletic Bilbao, ending widespread speculation linking him with a summer move to Barcelona or Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old winger, who scored in Spain\u2019s Euro 2024 final victory over England, will now remain at San Mam\u00e9s until\u00a0June 2035, as announced by Athletic Bilbao.\u00a0His existing deal was due to expire in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Athletic confirmed that Williams\u2019 release clause, previously reported to be around \u20ac62 million, has been increased by 50%, signalling the club\u2019s firm stance on keeping one of their most valuable assets.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by Athletic Club (@athleticclub)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When decisions have to be made, for me, what weighs most is the heart,&#8221; Williams said. &#8220;I&#8217;m where I want to be, with my people\u2014this is my home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Williams has become a key figure at Athletic since breaking into the senior side in 2021 at the age of 18.<\/p>\n<p>He has made 167 appearances, scored 31 goals, and was instrumental in Bilbao\u2019s fourth-place La Liga finish last season, securing a return to the UEFA Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>His loyalty to the club contrasts with recent speculation.<\/p>\n<p>Reports last month indicated Barcelona had agreed personal terms with the winger, prompting strong backlash from Athletic fans. In response, some supporters even removed his image from a popular mural in the city that also features his older brother and teammate, I\u00f1aki Williams.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A post shared by Athletic Club (@athleticclub)<\/p>\n<p>Athletic publicly expressed concern over Barcelona\u2019s intentions, citing statements from sporting director Deco and president Joan Laporta.<\/p>\n<p>The club questioned whether Bar\u00e7a were in a financial position to sign players, pointing to La Liga\u2019s \u201c1:1 rule\u201d, which restricts clubs from spending beyond their income limits.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the mounting transfer talk, Williams\u2019 long-term commitment provides clarity ahead of the new season and a boost to Athletic\u2019s ambitions in both domestic and European competition.<\/p>\n<p>A product of the club\u2019s academy, Williams now joins a rare group of modern players pledging their peak years to a single club\u2014further reinforcing Athletic Bilbao\u2019s reputation for nurturing and retaining local talent.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spain international Nico Williams has signed a new 10-year contract with Athletic Bilbao, ending widespread speculation linking him with a summer move to Barcelona or Bayern Munich. The 22-year-old winger, who scored in Spain\u2019s Euro 2024 final victory over England, will now remain at San Mam\u00e9s until\u00a0June 2035, as announced by Athletic Bilbao.\u00a0His existing deal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12585\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}