Chelsea summer target Nico Williams ‘wants to stay’ at Athletic Bilbao next season as he’s aiming to play in Europe.
That’s according to Super Deporte, who suggest the highly rated forward is likely to reject any advances from Chelsea should they come.
Reports in England have linked the Blues with a move for Williams in the coming months, with a belief he’s at the top of Mauricio Pochettino’s wish list to bolster their forward options.
The 21-yar-old has been in fine form for Athletic this season, with three goals and seven assists in 22 games in La Liga this season confirming for many that he’s one of the stars of the future.
That had reportedly led Chelsea to eyeing up a move, but Super Deporte state that any approach may be rejected outright.
They say Williams plans to play in Europe with his club next season, preferring to stay with them for the ‘medium term’ and continue his development.
His ‘affordable buy-out clause’ could jeopardise that and is something which had lured in the likes of Chelsea, but they would need to ‘make some moves’ before they could get him anyway.
They need to balance their books to solve issues with Financial Fair Play, something which could stop them from signings in the summer unless it is resolved.
That may not be their only obstacle to getting Williams, though, who is seemingly not that keen on a departure from Athletic at this point anyway.
