Why Barcelona target Nico Williams didn’t start for Athletic Club vs Getafe | OneFootball

Athletic Club head coach Ernesto Valverde has provided an insight into his decision not to afford a starting berth to Nico Williams in the club’s season opener.

Athletic, for their part, kicked the club’s 2024/25 campaign into gear on Thursday.

As part of the first round of La Liga fixtures, the Basque outfit welcomed Getafe to Bilbao, no doubt eager to get things up and running courtesy of a three-point haul.

When all was said and done at San Mamés, however, the evening’s hosts were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.

This came after Oihan Sancet’s first-half opener was cancelled out by Christantus Uche just beyond the hour mark.

En route to their somewhat underwhelming opening day stalemate, the aforementioned Nico Williams, meanwhile, was forced to make do with a spot on the bench.

The 22-year-old was eventually introduced to proceedings during the 2nd-half, but could not quite conjure up the required spark to carve out a winner for his side.

Speaking to the media on the back of the full-time whistle, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of his decision to leave Nico out from the off against Getafe was put to Ernesto Valverde.

This comes amid summer-long speculation linking the Spanish international with a move to La Liga rivals Barcelona.

Athletic’s headmaster, though, assured that his call came as a ‘precaution’, with Williams continuing to work back towards full fitness, after a late return to base in Bilbao following Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph:

“I didn’t want him to play too much as a precaution,” Valverde announced, as cited by Marca.

Conor Laird | GSFN