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Luis de la Fuente has rejected a scathing statement from Athletic Bilbao that criticised Spain for failing to ‘protect’ Nico Williams from constant questions over his future at Euro 2024.
Williams has been one of the stars of this summer’s tournament, playing all but one of Spain’s games en route to their eagerly anticipated clash with England in Sunday’s final.
The 21-year-old had been the subject of incessant transfer rumours heading into the European Championship and his eye-catching performances in Germany have only intensified interest from the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea.
But with Spain aiming for a record-breaking fourth European title, Williams has been determined to block out all outside noise in order to concentrate on purely footballing matters.
‘I have told my family and my agent that I didn’t want to know anything about what comes from outside, about signings or stories,’ the Athletic winger told AS last week.
‘They know what I am like, the personality I have, and I don’t like to know because I get distracted easily. I prefer to focus on one thing and go for it.
‘Because if one thing or another comes to me, in the end my head doesn’t work very well.
‘My agent, my parents and my family know me perfectly and they know that I don’t want to hear anything until the Euros are over.’
Though Williams could garner a huge transfer fee this summer, Athletic are determined to keep hold of the youngster for another campaign and have knocked back all approaches from rival clubs.
And in explosive rant this week, Athletic president Jon Uriarte hit out at the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) for failing to shield Williams from the constant ‘bombardment’ of questions over his future.
‘Nico is very committed to Athletic Bilbao. He has been subjected to a bombardment of questions about his future in an excessive and uncontrolled manner while on international duty at Euro 2024,’ Uriarte fumed.
‘The Spanish Federation does not know how to protect him.’
Uriarte stressed that Athletic were more than capable of keeping hold of high-profile players like Williams amid strong interest from Europe’s elite sides.
He added: ‘Respect between all the members of the football club is key, or at least that is the case at Athletic Club, which does not have as a strategy of subjecting players contracted to other clubs to public pressure in order to try to incorporate them.
‘Athletic Bilbao aim for the maximum, without limits. We are showing that we have a winning project for footballers and coaches.
‘We have renewed the contracts of players who are playing at the European Championship, such as Unai Simon and Vivian, as well as coveted players like [Benat] Prados, Oihan [Sancet], Julen [Agirrezabala] or [Aitor] Paredes, who have also signed for several seasons.
‘Athletic Bilbao is economically, socially and sportingly capable of keeping footballers of the calibre of those named in its structure, including Nico Williams.’
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s final, De la Fuente was asked about Uriarte’s comments and insisted a ‘focused’ Williams was ‘absolutely’ being ‘protected’ amid the intense speculation over his future.
‘We totally and absolutely protect the players, but they have freedom. We know that regardless of their professionalism, what happens outside continues to happen and we give naturalness to those situations,’ the Spain manager told Spanish media.
‘We spoke with the players and they are focused on what is happening here.
‘How they handle those questions in interviews, how they manage those moments depends on the player – they can decide whether they want to talk about it or not. He is free to say yes or no.’
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