Lamine Yamal attempted to recruit Spain’s EURO-winning teammate to Barcelona

Spain’s dominance in the UEFA EURO 2024 highlighted a young and vibrant squad, managed expertly by coach Luis de la Fuente. After winning the competition, a Spain national teammate admitted that Lamine Yamal attempted to convince him to join FC Barcelona.

One of Yamal’s partners during the whole competition was Nico Williams. With him on the left side, and the Barca player on the right side, they created a deadly duo that teams across Europe struggled to defend during the whole competition.

In La Revuelta TV program, the Athletic Bilbao player admitted that both Barcelona players Yamal and Alejandro Balde pressured him to join the club. “On top of that, those guys—Lamine, Balde, and all their crew—weren’t helping. They kept telling me, ‘Come on, brother, just come already,’” Nico said while laughing. “I told them, ‘I’ll let you know,’” he added.

The 22-year-old winger also opened up about the difficulties of dealing with transfer rumors and criticism from fans of both Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao: “You try to escape a bit, but you always get some criticism, especially on Twitter, which is where it’s the harshest. I’ve suffered, honestly, I won’t lie. Even now that I’ve distanced myself from it, I still get messages saying they don’t need me anymore. They said all sorts of things to me, from both sides.”

His older brother, Iñaki Williams, joined the interview and shared his perspective on supporting Nico during the uncertain period. “As the older brother, I didn’t want to interfere in his decision. All I wanted was for him to be happy with whatever choice he made. If my brother was certain he wanted to stay at Athletic, I encouraged him to continue,” commented his brother Iñaki.

Barcelona’s pursuit of Nico Williams

Barcelona’s ongoing financial struggles have forced the club to rely on free transfers and creative solutions to strengthen their squad. However, Nico Williams was an exception. The Catalans reportedly considered meeting Athletic Bilbao’s €60 million asking price to reunite Williams with Yamal.

Despite Barca’s interest, the move didn’t materialize due to concerns about roster space and whether Nico would receive sufficient playing time. Williams, unwilling to jeopardize his career by sitting on the bench, opted to stay at Athletic.

Instead, Barca went for Lepizig Dani Olmo, who had forged a bond with the institution during his time in the Academy. Barca paid €55M for him, but Olmo was unable to feature in the first game due to the reasons specified before. However, after Andreas Christensen suffered an injury that sidelines him during the entirety of the season, Barca was able to sign up Olmo in the squad.

Nico Williams remains under contract with Athletic Bilbao until June 2026, with a market value of €70 million, according to Transfermarkt. While a transfer may not be financially feasible for Barcelona at the moment, Yamal’s continued influence within the Spain national team setup could play a role in swaying Williams’ future decisions.