Aston Villa boss Unai Emery reportedly met with Nico Williams last week, but he is said to be prioritising staying at Athletic Bilbao this summer.
Speculation has been rife over the 20-year-old’s future, with the Daily Mail reporting in January that Villa were prepared to meet his €50m release clause, but the youngster wanted to remain in Bilbao.
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After scoring nine goals and providing six assists in 43 appearances last season, the Spanish international has continued to improve and develop his game, and with his pace, technical ability, creativity and eye for goal coupled with Villa’s need for a right-sided winger, it made sense that we were pursuing a move.
With his current contract set to expire in June 2024, doubts have emerged over his future at Athletic, but according to Relevo, he has once again turned down the opportunity to join us.
It’s reported that Emery met with Williams at the Rio Bidasoa hotel last Thursday, where he tried to convince the top talent over a move to join Villa, just as he did in January.
However, it’s added that although Williams greatly appreciates Emery as a coach and the desire to sign him, he has decided against making the move to England and intends on continuing in Bilbao.
If that is indeed the case, that’s a disappointing setback for Villa and Emery, as given our level of interest and push to try and convince him dating back to January, Williams was a top priority for the Spanish tactician to strengthen his squad this summer.
Instead, we’ll seemingly have to look elsewhere and consider alternative targets now, unless the situation changes or perhaps the report above isn’t quite accurate in terms of that door being fully closed just yet.
It’s worth noting that things can of course change with so much of the summer still to go, especially with renewal talks still not resulting in a new deal for Williams as of yet, with just 12 months remaining on his current agreement.
Villa have already secured our first summer signing with Youri Tielemans set to join on a free transfer on July 1, but as things stand, it doesn’t sound as though Williams will be following suit.