Today, the front page of MARCA has dropped the ‘bombshell’ that Real Madrid wants to sign Nico Williams, the Athletic Club and Spanish national team player.
Last summer, he was close to signing for FC Barcelona to reunite the duo that thrilled fans at the European Championship that Spain won — Lamine Yamal on the right wing and Nico Williams on the left. However, Barcelona ultimately couldn’t afford the transfer due to their financial situation (although it has now improved).
But it now seems that it’s Real Madrid’s turn to try to land the Athletic Club gem — 22 years old and the younger brother of Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club striker).
The big problem
The price doesn’t seem to be the main issue, since his release clause is reportedly similar to Huijsen’s — around 58 million euros — and that could possibly be negotiated down a bit.
However, the real issue is that he plays on the left wing, a position where Madrid already has an overbooking this season with three players: Vinicius, Rodrygo, and the incoming signing Mbappé — all three prefer that spot.
Rodrygo has “suffered” by being forced to play on the opposite wing, and we don’t know if Nico could perform well on the right (or would even accept playing there regularly). This same issue happened with Gareth Bale when he arrived at Madrid while Cristiano Ronaldo already dominated that position.
Vinicius doesn’t seem likely to give up that wing, which is also heavily desired by Mbappé, who this season has struggled playing as a number 9 — a position he himself has admitted he doesn’t like.
So frankly speaking, signing Nico Williams would be absurd — especially if Vinicius remains at Real Madrid (which seems likely, since Rodrygo is the more probable departure).
Signing a true number 9 is much more important
This season, Real Madrid has had several shortcomings, one of which is glaring — the lack of a true number 9, a player like Joselu who could give you a Plan B. All we’ve had is Plan A (Mbappé). Endrick has barely played, and when he has, he did more of the same as the player he replaced. Meanwhile, Joselu brought something different to the table — like aerial threat and classic center-forward play. For example, that incredible 8-minute comeback against Bayern Munich happened because Joselu came on and scored two goals.
For many seasons, Real Madrid has made the mistake of signing players they don’t actually need. This happened with David Beckham (though commercially it was key), since the club already had Luis Figo in that position. That forced Beckham to play out of position, which lowered his performance. Mistakes like this were part of why the Galácticos project didn’t succeed.
Now, contrast that with the fact that Nacho, Joselu, and Toni Kroos — three key players — are leaving. The first two were essential for Plan B, and Kroos was the conductor of Plan A. Yet the club hasn’t signed replacements for any of those roles. The only two signings were Mbappé and Endrick — both forwards. It didn’t take a genius to foresee the consequences of that. In fact, it’s said that one of the key lessons Florentino Pérez learned from his first spell as president was exactly this: the strategy of signing a “Zidane” each season plus promoting youth (the famous “Zidanes y Pavones”) didn’t work, because it unbalanced the team.
Ironically, this season he made exactly the same mistake. And while that can always happen, the winter transfer window exists precisely to fix or reinforce errors from the summer. But stubbornly, no one at the club wanted to admit their ‘mistake,’ not even with the huge number of defensive injuries. In the end, when things are done poorly, the results speak for themselves.
Why publish the Nico Williams story now?
Interestingly, Marca often functions as something of an extension of Real Madrid. They frequently use it to leak news or rumors (which is why they’re always the first to report anything related to Madrid). So it might not be a coincidence that this story came out — it suggests someone at the club gave them the scoop, and that Real Madrid really is interested in Nico.
It seems Florentino Pérez is indeed planning to make significant investments this summer to properly reinforce Real Madrid — especially with Xabi Alonso potentially coming in and wanting to change many things. But let’s hope there’s coherence and that the signings are made where they’re needed (Huijsen, for example). A left winger is precisely what Real Madrid doesn’t need right now.
Marca’s poll
In fact, Marca has published a poll — with over 200,000 votes already — asking: “What do you think of Nico signing for Real Madrid?”
The options and current results:
- “Only if Rodrygo or Vinicius leave” – 43%
- “A perfect signing” – 31%
- “Madrid doesn’t need him” – 26%
