Surprise, Nico Williams sets a condition to sign for Barça: 180-degree twist

Days keep passing and Nico Williams's signing by FC Barcelona still hasn't been made official. Unlike what happened last summer, this time all reports point in the same direction: the forward wants to wear the Barça jersey. Meanwhile, the Catalan club has both the willingness and determination to pay the €60 million ($60 million) release clause.

However, although everything seemed to be going smoothly, not everything is as it seems. At the beginning of this week, a small stagnation in negotiations between Barça and Nico Williams came to light, something that hadn't happened until now. Suddenly, everything has changed course, now settling into a kind of uncertainty that, nevertheless, hasn't diminished the excitement at all.

The issue is that Nico Williams is starting to have some doubts about whether he's truly interested in moving to the Catalan capital. The renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano has confirmed the rumors that emerged a couple of days ago about this. Barça has a very established attacking trio and the younger Williams doesn't want to leave his home to be a substitute.

Nico Williams is not coming to warm Camp Nou bench

Nico Williams's natural position is left winger, where Raphinha is currently playing in excellent form and won't accept being a substitute. We can suspect that, to avoid this, Flick might move the Brazilian to the attacking midfield, where he has played before, but in that position there's already an overload with Gavi, Fermín, and Dani Olmo. On the right, Lamine Yamal plays.

That is, at first glance, it seems complicated to find a spot for Nico Williams in Hansi Flick's starting line-up. In any case, Barça was looking for a forward who could bring freshness and rotation when the situation required it. In no way was the intention to change anything about the current trio, which is deeply rooted in the German coach's philosophy.

That's why both Nico Williams and his agent, Félix Tainta, are concerned about not having enough minutes to keep developing. Thus, before giving a final answer, Nico has asked Barça for an honest response about the role he'll have in the team. Once the Catalans respond, we'll see what decision Nico Williams makes.

There are also those who claim that another reason for the stagnation in negotiations was, rather, the uncertainty about registration. After the problems that arose this season with Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, Nico Williams needs guarantees before signing.