‘Life goes on’… Deco comments on Barcelona’s summer pursuit of €70m Spanish ace | OneFootball

FC Barcelona had a mixed summer transfer window but that hasn’t deterred the team from performing at a very high level on the pitch. The Catalan club managed to secure the signature of Spanish midfield star Dani Olmo but failed in their pursuit of signing Nico Williams.

Barcelona’s interest in the Athletic Bilbao winger was one of the worst-kept secrets of the summer. The player himself admitted recently players like Lamine Yamal and Alejandro Balde tried to convince him to join the Catalan club but he ultimately made the decision after consultation with his family.

Now, sporting director Deco, in a recent interview as quoted by Mundo Deportivo, has admitted that the club indeed tried to sign Nico Williams but moved on once the player did not show much interest in the move, at least last summer. He said:

“Nico is a player who indeed interested us in the summer; we tried, but from there, the player made a decision, and life goes on. We brought in Dani Olmo, who was the priority because we lacked such a player in the squad. The idea with Nico was to have another forward player to foster high-level competition, but once the player shows no interest in coming, there’s no further discussion.”

As Johan Cruyff once famously said, “If you have second thoughts on playing for FC Barcelona, you are no longer of service to us”. Nico Williams chose to stay with Athletic Bilbao and as fate may have it, Raphinha has become one of the best attackers in the world.

Had Nico Williams come to Barcelona, Raphinha might not have enjoyed as prominent a role as he has so far this season. Things always happen for a reason and considering the form they are in, it looks like Nico not coming to the club in the summer was a blessing in disguise.

Make no mistake, there is nothing to take away from the incredible talent that Nico possesses. However, despite not knowing if the opportunity would come knocking again, the €70m-rated Spanish winger chose to turn Barcelona down and no one knows if the club will return in the future.

Nico Williams has had a decent season with Athletic Bilbao but is nowhere close to the heights that Raphinha and Lamine Yamal are hitting under Hansi Flick. Only time will tell what the future holds for the player and let’s wait and see how it plays out.