Athletic Club Bilbao star Nico Williams’ agent Félix Tainta has opened up about Arsenal, Liverpool and a few other clubs’ interest in securing his services.
The Spain international is a product of the La Liga side’s academy and made his first team debut in 2021. He scored 38 goals and contributed 37 assists from 205 matches for his club so far.
His performances over the years have seen him attract interest from several top clubs, including Arsenal and Liverpool. The Reds had previously showed interest in his brother and teammate, Iñaki.
Williams made his debut for Spain in 2022 and won the European champions and the World Cup with him.
Arsenal and Liverpool interest not surprising
During the 2024/25 season, the forward scored 11 goals and contributed seven assists. In June 2025, Sport Witness covered a report from Spain explaining that both Arsenal and Chelsea showed keen interest.
Last summer, Barcelona prioritised signing Nico Williams. There were concrete talks, but he turned down a move to the Camp Nou to sign a new contract with Athletic until 2035.
Félix Tainta was the latest guest on podcast, Los Fulanos, and Marca have relayed his comments.
When asked about the negotiations with Barcelona, the representative confirmed Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain interest.
He said: “We all know about Barca’s interest in the summer of 24, after the European Championship. Barca, Arsenal, Bayern, Liverpool, PSG… I could name them all. Everyone wanted Nico, and having a player say no to all these clubs isn’t easy.”
“From there, we talked to Barca. Athletic knew because I kept them informed about the situation at all times, even though Athletic were angry with Barca for their methods. From then on, I initiated conversations.
“There came a point in the negotiations, in the situation, where Nico couldn’t be without playing time. Nico is a Formula 1 car. If I go to your house, I can’t take on your problem, and I made that clear to Barca. From then on, we decided that if there weren’t certain guarantees, we couldn’t risk Nico not going there to play, with a World Cup coming up, and not just with a World Cup, it’s.”
Williams contemplated leaving Athletic
The representative says Nico Williams was open to leaving the Basque club before signing a long-term contract in July 2025. Félix Tainta gives an insight into what convinced his client to continue at Athletic.
“Nico had the idea of being able to leave. He’s ambitious. At Athletic, you know the limitations, you know you’re not going to win a Champions League, maybe a La Liga title,” Tainta explained.
“In the end, when he kept saying, ‘Not here, not here, not here, maybe here, but the situation and what it entails doesn’t add up,’ there’s another twist where you think, ‘What if I renew?’ I brought it up with him, I said, ‘This is what it is, do you want me to fight for it?’ And he agreed. And that’s how we renewed.”
Last season, Williams managed six goals and seven assists and has a goal from seven matches this season.
Taking his statistics into account, Arsenal and Liverpool may not be disappointed to have missed out on the 24-year-old.
Nico Williams
Athletic Club — senior first-team career stats
| Season | Apps | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021/22 | 40 | 3 | 1 |
| 2022/23 | 43 | 9 | 4 |
| 2023/24 | 37 | 8 | 16 |
| 2024/25 | 45 | 11 | 7 |
| 2025/26 | 32 | 6 | 4 |
| 2026/27 Ongoing |
6 | 1 | 0 |
| First-team total | 205 | 38 | 32 |
Source: Opta Analyst. Checked: 16 October 2026.
