Chelsea’s interest in Nico Williams is being called very serious by Caught Offside, who have exclusive information about the Athletic Bilbao winger’s future.
They say that Arsenal are ready to pay his €58m release clause and are leading the chase, but that Chelsea are also “advancing,” despite being “unsure about being able to afford” the winger. The new ownership have spent two years working to bring down the wage bill, and signing a star like Williams would likely require a lot of that hard work to be undone.
Williams’ name has been coming up in rumours more and more in recent weeks, perhaps because of his increasingly brilliant showings at the Euros with Spain. If he keeps playing like this, his demands will only rise further.
Arsenal can offer Champions League football, which not only gives them a competitive advantage but also means their wage structure can be significantly more relaxed.
A long shot – and maybe impossible
We’ve been sceptical about this idea from the start, and we’re not going to change our mind now. If the club pulled out of a deal for their top target Michael Olise because of his wage demands, why are they now going to bow to (likely very similar demands) from Williams?
It would be one thing if they had simply been outbid on Olise and now wanted to claw back that prestige. But not – by all accounts it was the Blues who broke off talks, so it makes little sense we would pay Williams (who is reportedly on €200k a week already and will surely want a raise) even more.
Unless Williams is willing to negotiate a deal which is almost unprecedented in how heavily weighted it is towards incentives (and why would he, given the competition for his signature?), we can’t see this working out for us.
