Arsenal ‘close deal’ for £50m top Arteta target in Barcelona ‘betrayal’ ahead of summer move

Joe Williams
Arsenal transfer target Nico Williams
Athletic Club winger Nico Williams with the Arsenal badge

Arsenal have sealed a deal for Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams ahead of the summer transfer window, according to the latest reports.

The Gunners were forced to look at new attacking options in the January transfer market after injuries to Gabriel Jesus – who has been ruled out for the season – and Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal are currently second in the Premier League but six points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand on the north Londoners.

And the Gunners were keen to do business if possible in order to give them the best possible chance of hunting down Liverpool and competing in other competitions too – but they couldn’t get a deal for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins or any other forwards over the line.

The Athletic‘s David Ornstein revealed during the winter transfer window that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta ‘would like to sign’ Athletic Bilbao’s Williams.

Ornstein wrote in early January:

‘Nico Williams has a host of suitors; Arsenal and Chelsea are high among them, while Liverpool looked into the viability of a deal last summer. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta would like to sign Williams in this window but the finances involved make it highly unlikely and Williams is not agitating to leave Athletic Bilbao.

‘His release clause stands at just shy of €60million — it fluctuates with inflation — and would need to be paid in full. When the size of his salary is factored in, it becomes even more difficult. A summer transfer is more plausible.’

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And now reports in Spain claim that Arsenal have ‘closed a deal’ for Athletic Bilbao winger Williams and are ‘very close to completing’ as they have ‘decided to pay’ his €60m (£50m) release clause in his contract.

The Spain international’s entourage ‘has already held several meetings with Arsenal, and everything points to the fact that the agreement between the two parties is practically closed’.

Williams has been promised a ‘leading role in Mikel Arteta’s team’ and the deal will ‘become official in the coming months’, while Barcelona ‘sees it as a betrayal’ with the Catalan giants ‘very close to signing him last summer’.

The Athletic Bilbao star ‘has opted to accept Arsenal’s offer, which has caused discontent among the Barca board’ with Barcelona president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco ‘confident that Nico would wait for Barca’.

Barcelona could now look to sign either Liverpool’s Luis Diaz or Milan’s Rafael Leao instead, while ‘Mikel Arteta is smiling knowing that he is about to close one of the most important signings in the Premier League for next season.’