All summer, Arsenal was linked with a move for a dynamic winger who could compete with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. Yes, Arsenal eventually signed Raheem Sterling, but before him, Spanish winger Nico Williams was one player they were keen on.
Williams shined in 2023-24, single-handedly steering Athletic Bilbao to one of its finest league runs with his 8 goals and 19 assists in 37 games. He capped his excellent performances with Bilbao with outstanding performances at the Euros, stepping up and giving Spain a European triumph, not only with his two goals but also with his dribbling, trickery, and ability to take on defenders, laying the groundwork for Spain’s dominance over opponents.
Most teams wanted to sign him after his brilliant performance last season and at Euro 24. His £47 million release clause was tempting to use. However, rumours circulated that his salary demands had scared off teams such as Arsenal. He didn’t leave Bilbao, so is there a reason to be disappointed that he didn’t make the switch to Arsenal?
Williams’ performances this season haven’t exactly made headlines, so there’s really no need to be disappointed she didn’t sign. This season, he has only one goal and no assists in eight games across all competitions. If he were Gabriel Martinelli, some would consider him finished. Despite facing criticism all summer, the Brazilian winger now boasts a goal and two assists, which is promising.
The plan may have been for Williams to replace Martinelli, but clearly that would not be an upgrade. We often overlook what we have when we’re surrounded by shiny new toys, yet almost every footballer experiences a period of poor performance. Williams did not join Arsenal, and there is absolutely no need to regret that decision.
Darren N
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The headline of the article is somewhat misleading. Arsenal was never realistically in with a chance of signing Williams in the summer. The clear favourites were Barcelona who had made him their top (only) priority.
However, Williams made it clear on several occasions (reported in the Spanish press, but not so much here) that he had no intention of leaving Athletic Bilbao in the summer, even to go to Barcelona (which, along with Real Madrid, remains “the” big draw for players in Spain).
He hasn’t been on good form this season (so far) so on that evidence it’s probably a good thing Arsenal didn’t sign him but, there again, they never were going to.
The difference is also in the players you have in your team.
There’s a chance that if Nico was at Arsenal, he could play brightly!
And Martinelli, on the contrary, faded away at an average club.
Arsenal tried to sign him, but failed because he decided to stay and he will most likely join Barca next summer. Arteta wants a competitive squad and Nico was probably meant to compete on several positions, not to ”replace Martinelli”, only a big fan of the brazilian can see it that way. And imo Nico is the better player, and also the perfect kind of versatile player we need to increase the overall quality of the attack.
I think we will see an improvement in Martinelli this year, with the additions in the defense and midfield.
Calafiori as LB is a massive upgrade over Zinchenko, and Calafiori is a plus defender which helps Martinelli on the left side.
Merino as a LCM will improve his performances as well, so I look forward to Martinelli getting back to the form we saw 2 years ago.
All this talk about Arsenal being interested in Williams and wanting to sign him. Just more media hogwash, and there’s no way they would have got him anyway.
I f he was up for sale, Real Madrid and Barcelona would have been to much of a draw for him.
The most plausible story I have heard is that he wants Barca but they do not have the funds so he is prepared to wait.
What would tricky Williams be like with better players around him as he has with his national team Arsenal is levels above Bilbao and plays a system that more or less brings out the best of our players
I’m happy for Martinelli to find good form but that was a horrendous miss against PSG any side of the keeper and it goes in You can’t miss those chances against top teams or it will come back to bite you. Martinelli for me still has some making-up to do before I can pat him on his back
The premiership is the most brutal league in the world. The injuries foreign players sustain can actually end ones career. Martinelli has had his fair share of injuries. This can hinder any players future performances. When Martinelli started playing for Arsenal he was on fire, and we were singing his praises. Everybody deserves a second chance, it is the most humane thing to do. So please be patient, i have no doubt he will be back to his best. Martinelli , you go boy proove them wrong.they
Krish Naidoo,
While I agree with you to an extent about Martinelli, the big injury he picked up was quite early in his Arsenal career.
And although he’s picked up other injury’s along the way, it’s been along time since the major injury he had.
So, really he needs to start stepping up to the plate more, he gets into good positions but more often than not there’s no end product.
And lets be real here, that has nothing to do with the injury’s he’s had. That’s just bad decision making on his part.