Athletic Club star Nico Williams should ignore the likes of Aston Villa and stay where he is to build a legacy at the Spanish club.
That’s according to teammate and Athletic veteran Óscar de Marcos, who admits he would love to see the highly rated forward stay with his boyhood club.
Williams is one of the rising stars of Spanish football and has found himself increasingly in the transfer spotlight over the last few months thanks to his contract situation, with his current deal expiring next summer.
That means he is free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement under the Bosman ruling from January 1st and a whole host of clubs have lined up ready to get him if the indicates he will move on.
Aston Villa are one of them and have been long-term admirers of the player, trying to convince him in January and then again in the summer, when Unai Emery met with him personally.
Reports over the last few weeks have indicated he will sign a new deal with Athletic, who have also been keen to share publicly that they are confident of retaining their star man.
That is something De Marcos would love to see happen, something he is more than willing to admit to anyone listening.
“I see Nico doing well, as always,” he said in comments relayed by Mundo Deportivo.
“For us he is an important player because he has that imbalance, and it would help us if he continued here. I trust that it will be like that, and I hope so. I would love it for the good of Athletic.”
Whether Williams does end up staying long-term remains to be seen, though. While there is an increased confidence he’ll sign a new deal with Athletic, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be staying long-term.
Indeed, several reports regarding his new deal have made it clear it will include a more than manageable release clause for any of the interested parties.
The last report from Spain at the end of October indicated the new contract will include a slight increase to his €50m clause specifically so that a move is not ruled out.
That’s not a significant sum for a club like Aston Villa who are keen to back Unai Emery, so it’ll be worth keeping an eye on Williams even if he heeds De Marcos’ words and stays where he is for the time being.
