Arsenal Described As ‘Big Admirers’ Of Euro 2024 Star

By The Editor
on 22nd June 2024

Spain’s Nico Williams is attracting interest from north London…

Athletic Bilbao star Nico Williams has admirers within Arsenal’s recruitment team as Mikel Arteta looks to the market to improve our attacking department, according to The Telegraph’s Sam Dean.

Easy to see why Arsenal’s recruitment team are big admirers of Nico Williams. Reminds me of Martinelli with that width on the left and the willingness to run at the defender every time.

— Sam Dean (@SamJDean) June 20, 2024

Williams sent tongues wagging at Euro 2024 following his electric display against Italy as Spain booked their place in the last-16 stage.

The 21-year-old has a modest release clause in his contract at the Basque club thought to be in the region of €50 million, though there remains one obvious obstacle.

Given that the La Liga do not spend money on transfers with their squad filled with local talent, that expenditure is allocated to their wage bill with Williams said to be on around £200,000 per week.

That would mean, barring any compromise, making Williams one of the club’s highest earnest should he join – something that would certainly disrupt our current wage structure.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal have held discussions regarding Williams in recent months and one would imagine those talks centre around his desire to join the club and if there can be compromises on wage demands.

In terms of his profile, the Spanish international is exactly what we’re looking for – possessing the explosiveness of Gabriel Martinelli and the guile of Leandro Trosssard.

Also, Williams can operate off both feet, giving Arteta the flexibility he desires when deciding how he wants his frontline to operate.

With this year’s financial year for FFP accounting ending at the end of the month, I expect to see our summer business ramp up in the coming weeks.