Dani Olmo Steps In as Nico Williams Questions Barcelona Move
Dani Olmo isn’t shy about speaking up when things get messy at the top of Spanish football. This time, he’s thrown his support behind Nico Williams, telling the young winger to put his faith in Barcelona registration processes—even as rumors of behind-the-scenes chaos refuse to die down.
Olmo knows what he’s talking about. Back in January 2025, his own license was snatched away after La Liga blocked his registration over financial rule confusion. For weeks, he watched from the sidelines until Barcelona patched things up and got him back on the pitch. “In the end, everything was solved,” Olmo recently said. “The best players should be at Barcelona.” But for Williams, watching Olmo’s ordeal made him even more cautious about following the same path.
Transfer Talks Collapse as Williams Seeks Guarantees
So what’s actually going on with Nico Williams and Barcelona? The club was all set to trigger the 22-year-old’s €62 million release clause, smoothing over personal terms in record time. But when Williams’ agents started digging into the details, alarm bells rang. They wanted ironclad guarantees: if Barcelona couldn’t register him, he should walk free—no hitches, no demands, no compensation. Barcelona, protective of their interests and wary of setting a precedent, wouldn’t budge.
On top of that, negotiations got tangled up in arguments about agent commissions and the timing of the release clause. But it was the refusal to include a registration guarantee that finally brought everything crashing down. Williams, instead of risking months stuck in limbo, turned back to Athletic Club. There, he did more than just renew his contract—he hiked his release clause to a jaw-dropping €100 million and tied his future to the club until 2035.
Athletic wasted no time sharing the news, releasing a slick video of Williams pledging loyalty to the team he joined as a teenager. Supporters roared online, relieved that their star would stay put—at least for the next season.
Meanwhile, Olmo isn’t rattled by Williams’ change of heart or concerned about position debates in Barcelona’s already crowded attack. He namechecked Liverpool’s Luis Díaz and Williams as players who would make Barcelona stronger—even if it meant more competition. For Olmo, the club’s problems with La Liga’s 1:1 financial compliance aren’t stopping Barcelona from still being a magnet for big talent.
Behind all the wrangling, there’s a bigger story. La Liga’s strict financial rules have changed how clubs negotiate, and players are no longer just weighing salary offers, but also the risk of sitting out games due to registration blocks. That’s enough to spook any superstar looking for stability. For now, Williams will keep running down the left flank for Athletic Club, while Barcelona hunts for reinforcements confident that lining up for the blaugrana is still a dream most players won’t turn down—at least, as long as they’re guaranteed to actually play.
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