Arsenal should hold the advantage in their bid to land Nico Williams in the upcoming summer transfer window.
The Gunners are understood to be closing in on a move to sign the Athletic Bilbao star, according to some reportage.
Todo Fichajes go as far as claiming the Spanish international has instructed his agent to finalise the terms of a potential switch to London at the end of the season.
Williams has registered 16 goal contributions (nine goals and seven assists) in 36 games (across all competitions) in 2024/25.
“I left Arsenal because my wife told me she wanted to get out of London – then six months later she told me to go BACK!” – which Arsenal legend instantly regretted leaving?
Arsenal will face competition from Bayern
Christian Falk has now confirmed in an exclusive update with CaughtOffside that Bayern Munich also hold an interest in the La Liga winger.
Nico Williams won’t come cheap for either outfit either, with the release clause in his contract estimated to be between €60m-€80m [£50.5m-£67.3m].
That said, there will be a considerable opening for Arsenal to strike ahead of the Bavarian giants, given that Vincent Kompany’s club will be forced to sell players to facilitate such a move.
Kingsley Coman is one such option facing the transfer chopping block amid interest from Premier League rivals Tottenham and Newcastle United. Alternatively, it’s possible that the 28-year-old could be shifted to the Saudi Pro League.
Should Arsenal manage to fail in their pursuit of Williams, there is always the option of pushing for potential free agent Leroy Sane (whose contract at Bayern expires this summer) instead.
Just how good is Nico Williams?
The 22-year-old has, statistically, been one of the standout pieces on Ernesto Valverde’s chessboard this term.
Sofascore consider Nico Williams Bilbao’s fifth-best player in La Liga and third-best in the Europa League, picking up 7.02/10 and 7.23/10 average ratings respectively.
FBref more clearly illuminates his potential value to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, with the Spaniard appearing to be a far more offensively influential option than current starter Gabriel Martinelli.
The latter exceeds his potential competition for non-penalty xG (71st percentile) and xAG (51st percentile). However, there’s simply no contest when it comes to shot-creating actions.
Player
Non-penalty xG (per 90)
xAG (per 90)
Shot-creating actions (per 90)
Nico Williams
0.22
0.18
5.14
Gabriel Martinelli
0.29
0.20
2.86
Given the Emirates Stadium-dwelling outfit is evidently looking to place the burden of goals on a top-class central striker, like Arsenal-linked Alexander Isak, evolving their creative prowess on the flanks would make a great deal of sense.
It just depends to what degree such an expensive move for the Sweden international will drain the Premier League side’s summer budget.
