Barcelona are close to being able to sign Nico Williams confirms La Liga president

In a recent interaction with SPORT, La Liga president Javier Tebas has confirmed that Barcelona are very close to reaching a position wherein they can sign priority transfer target Nico Williams.

It is well-established by this point that the Athletic Club winger is Barça’s priority for this summer as they look to reinforce the left flank.

Barcelona can sign Nico Williams

There were concerns about the deal owing to the Catalans’ Financial Fair Play situation and the fact that the 21-year-old has a €58 million release clause in his contract.

But club president Joan Laporta had recently assured that they were in a position to make such a signing this summer, which has now been corroborated by La Liga chief Tebas.

“If they reach the 1:1 rule, they will be able to do so. You have to think that with Barcelona’s efforts to reduce their wage bill by more than €200 million and the levers, they can perfectly well bring in a player like Nico Williams,” said Tebas.

Barcelona closer to signing Nico Williams. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

“I think he has a termination clause of €58 million: when you buy for €58 million, the amortisation is divided by the years of the contract; if you sign him for five, it would be less than €20 million per year, plus whatever you pay the player.”

“Barça are going to be able to be in those amounts, which are perfectly acceptable if they are in the 1:1 rule. They’re a club that are close to 1,000 million in turnover, they can be in that range,” he further affirmed.

Tebas did stress that Barcelona must first return to the 1:1 ruling before they can pull off the signing while reassuring that the Catalans are close to doing so.

“You have to remember that the 1:1 scenario has to be fulfilled. They don’t have it today, but they’re the closest they’ll get. If they do, they can sign Nico Williams or another player with those characteristics,” he said.