Had the Athletic Bilbao-Arsenal clash come a few months earlier, Nico Williams’ performance would have been a major talking point.
But the fixture arrived when it did, and most Gooners could not help but agree on one thing, failing to sign Nico Williams was probably for the best.
This summer, Williams was tipped to finally take the leap and leave Athletic for one of Europe’s elite.
At one stage, Barcelona looked to have taken the lead in the race, but Arsenal remained in the wings, ready to pounce if the opportunity to land the Spaniard presented itself.
That chance never came. Williams chose to stay put, signing a 10-year deal with the San Mamés outfit that nearly doubled both his wages and his modest release clause.
For his suitors, watching him light up pre-season in red and white might have stung.
But luckily for them, his performances have been so underwhelming that no one is losing sleep over missing out.
Pre-season has not been kind to the Euro 2024 hero. He struggled against PSV and Liverpool, and when the time came to show Arsenal what they missed out on, he failed to show up.
Nico Williams stats against Arsenal
64 minutes
24 touches
13 passes
0 successful dribbles
0 shots
0 key passes
9x possession lost
25% duels won
A bullet dodged for Arsenal
If that was Arsenal’s final scouting window, it surely left them questioning whether Williams is the right profile to pursue.
Fortunately, they moved for Noni Madueke instead, a Premier League-proven winger whose 59 minutes in an Arsenal shirt have already shown promise.
If Madueke builds on those early signs, the idea of Arsenal ever chasing Williams again may not cross a single Gooner’s mind.
Hopefully, in Madueke Arsenal have secured their man, someone who will bring dynamism and directness to their game.
Thoughts appreciated in the comments.
Daniel O
__________________________________________________________________________________________
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
So, we judge him on a pre season friendly and ignore everything else he has done in football that actually meant something. REALLY!!!!
i agrre haha… but he was expensive, mammoth salary as i understood it, madueke may be a better choice. especially after his new contract
He is very inconsistent at club level but performs well for the National Team. His numbers are okay but not great. Rodrigo is also great on his day but he normally have great periods where he is quiet
Football skills are dynamic and can degrade over time depending on the player’s injuries/ age/ confidence
Nico Williams couldn’t get past Timber at all, although not many inverted-LW can dribble past our best RB and Arteta’s tactics are obviously made to stifle our opposition’s wing-play
I told you Martinelli is more skilled than him and Martinelli is homegrown in EPL
I think Rodrygo might be able to compete with Martinelli, but Romano just said El Real want £86.5m for him
Whether he’s having a dip or has peaked early, either way Arsenal can live without Williams. The team and squad looks really good now and should be capable of winning some silverware. Quality additions are always welcome of course, but the situation is not desperate now. I just hope Benjamin Sesko is enjoying plenty of beers & burgers & staying up late at cocaine parties in Manchester in preparation for the opening game of the season.
We can only miss a player if he intended to join us but didn’t. That’s not the case with Williams. The Spanish media consistently reported he never had any intention of joining Arsenal.
Williams was only interested in F C Barcelona as a “possible” destination. Last year, they thought they were fairly close to getting him, but he decided, ultimately, to stay as he wanted one more season with his brother who is also in the Athletic side.
This year, there were also links to F C Barcelona but it’s pretty clear now that Williams used these to leverage his 10-year mega-contract from Athletic. Again, Arsenal was not in the frame.
Bertie,
I agree, with our club being constantly linked with a player who never once intimated that he was interested in a move to us, it has got to have been one of the most boring non story’s of this summer transfer window.
If that’s the case then Rodrigo goes should also be avoided since he had an uninspiring 24/25 campaign,huge transfer fee and mammoth wages for a player who is surplus as well eh
OT – How many of us read from more than one source where Eze’s release clause lapsed as of August 1, two weeks before the PL season start? Me too, and I assumed 🤦♂️that was correct. Now, I’ve just started seeing assertions that his release clause doesn’t lapse until after August 15. Something so basic, let me see if I can find a copy of his contract somewhere so I can figure it out myself. Uugh! 🤦♂️
Yes, I read that as well. As I’ve posted before about Eze (but the same goes for any player who is supposedly signing for Arsenal), I’ll believe it when the photo of the contract signing is on the Arsenal website.
Hi Bertie, it just amazes me that so many media outlets get something so basic, so glaringly wrong. I’ve been looking into it and I’m still not certain the clause expires after the 15th and the kicker is that I haven’t seen one media outlet apologize or hold themselves accountable for their prior “reporting”.
This wasn’t a rumour from an unnamed source or something similar. Yet, the experts informed the experts who informed other experts, etc. etc. instead of doing any real legwork on something so potentially important.
It turns out that it may only be important if we are in fact interested in a deal and yet another club, who can persuade Eze, wants the deal so much that they decide to trigger the release clause (Spuds?).
He was never that good and on massive wages he’d need to already be world class which he isn’t. Though 50mill for Madueke isn’t exactly a genius chess move either
I notice on the BBC Website that Spurs are seemingly making their move for Eze. The report says will Arsenal respond to this news.
It goes on to say, that Arsenal are trying to off load player’s before making a move. If the story’s true about the Spurs interest, Arsenal may not have time to wait.
This story has been dragging on now for to long. Make up your mind Arsenal, one way or the other.
Preseason is not the time for commitment unless you are a squad player with a point to prove