Ernesto Valverde is hopeful Nico Williams will remain at Athletic Bilbao “for many years” amid speculation over the Spain star’s future as he enjoys another excellent season.
Williams has played a crucial role to put Athletic on course for Champions League qualification and two games away from a Europa League final at their home stadium of San Mamés.
The 22-year-old winger, who scored in Spain’s Euro 2024 final win over England last year, has 11 goals and seven assists to his name this season.
He is reportedly attracting interest from the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea. However, Valverde understandably has no desire to lose him.
“Nico is a very important player for us, it’s true,” Valverde said.
“Having the season he had and winning the Euros with Spain had a big impact on him. There was speculation [last summer] but we hope he’s in Athletic for many years.
“We hope he’s with us next season because we want the best players, of course.”
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the first leg of their Europa League semi-final with Manchester United at San Mamés, Valverde dismissed suggestions of Athletic being favourites.
Athletic are fourth in LaLiga and in an excellent position to claim one of LaLiga’s five Champions League qualification spots. United, by contrast, are enduring the worst season of their Premier League history, sitting 14th with four games to play.
United needed an epic extra-time comeback to knock out Lyon in the quarter-finals to keep alive their hopes of winning the competition and qualifying for the Champions League as a result, but Valverde remains wary of the threat posed by Ruben Amorim’s men.
“We need to bear in mind we’re playing Manchester United, one of the biggest teams in Europe,” he added.
“They are able to win the Europa League in a minute. I don’t know who is favourite.
“Manchester United are in a position in the standings which is unexpected. The prize is so big that all the teams have extra motivation. We have the possibility to play a final here in our stadium and that’s a boost.”
Williams expressed similar sentiments to his coach, saying: “United always have very good players.
“And regardless of what’s happening in the Premier, I think that they have proven that in the Europa League, they’re very good in the Europa League.
“I think that they have very good players and they have a very good technical style, they have a very good coach. We’re going to do our best and let’s hope that we get the win and that hopefully everything goes well.”
Asked about the speculation surrounding him, Williams insisted he is focused only on the task of beating United.
“I don’t want to look beyond that,” Williams said. “I have always wanted to play in the European competition and feel important. I am super happy here.”
