How a Barcelona WhatsApp message to Nico Williams made his family exit transfer deal and extend Bilbao cotract revealed

The reason for Spanish sensation Nico Williams deciding against joining Barcelona involved his family and agent, a report had said. 23-year-old Nico Williams ultimately ended up signing a contract extension with Athletic Club Bilbao after his family was upset about a suggestion put forward by the Catalans: that he fire his agent.

 

Nico Williams is represented by Felix Tainta, a respected figure in the Basque. He shares a warm relationship with the winger's family and is also the agent of many other Bilbao stars, including his half-brother Iñaki Williams. Barcelona sporting director Deco had several rounds of talks with Tainta, and at one stage, it looked like it was only a matter of weeks before the world could witness Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams play together at club level as well.

 

However, things changed when discussions started getting stalled. These unexplained roadblocks happened when a medical appointment was booked for the Euro winner at a hospital in Catalonia. According to the La Liga champions, the stalling reportedly gave them the feeling that Tainta was using them to discuss a contract extension with Bilbao. With the Catalan club wanting to sign Nico, it was possible to bargain for a higher salary, despite the club having offered him an improved payment last summer.

 

However, the Barcelona camp was not willing to let it slide and communicated their disappointment with Nico over WhatsApp, AS said in a report. They went to the extent of suggesting that the player should fire Felix Tainta and hire someone like Jorge Mendes or Pini Zahavi instead as his agent, the report added.

 

When the Williams household saw the WhatsApp message, all hell broke loose as they respected and loved Felix Tainta for his many years of service. They decided to sever all ties with Barcelona over the incident, AS quoted. Nico has now signed a new eight-year contract extension which will keep him at Bilbao until 2035. Athletic added that Williams’ transfer release clause had been increased by more than 50%, with reports in Spanish media saying the earlier clause was worth around 62 million euros ($73.01 million). 

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