Barcelona has reached a pre-agreement with Nico Williams over a 6-year contract with a 12 million euro salary

Barcelona has reportedly reached an agreement with Nico Williams’ entourage to sign the Spanish international on a contract valid until 2031.

According to Footmercato’s Santi Aouna, the agreement between Nico Williams and Barcelona is to see the player earn 12 million euros gross per season.

Barca has been working behind the scenes to get this done since the start of the FIFA Club World Cup transfer window opened.

The Athletic Bilbao’s winger has been one of the most talked about players from last season’s summer transfer window to this season. After rejecting many clubs, including Barcelona, to stay at Bilbao last season, the player now sees this opportunity to try new experiences.

Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta, said the door was closed for Nico Williams after the player rejected their proposal last season when Hansi Flick wanted a new winger for his team.

Joan Laporta changed his mind to go again this summer transfer window after Athletic Bilbao dropped their asking price and also with several meetings with Barca’s sporting management and some social media moves of Nico Williams and Barcelona’s players in the national team.

How this move affects Barcelona’s transfer strategy.

Barcelona were faced with many difficult decisions to come up with Nico Williams as a priority target this summer.

Before the transfer window, there were many speculations that Barca valued Liverpool’s Luis Diaz more than any player on their radar, of which Nico Williams was part.

This was fueled by President Joan Laporta, as he had little hope in Nico but sees Luiz Diaz as a power option that can take Barcelona to the level they want to reach. But after several meetings with the sporting management, he changed his mind to pursue Nico.

Barca will now be looking at other important areas like their defense. Barcelona conceded 17 goals in the Champions League, which shows how porous their defense is. Despite scoring many goals, they conceded absolutely unacceptable goals, which led to their Champions League exit.

Across all competitions, Barca scored 120 goals and conceded 45 goals in 49 matches, with an average score per game of 3.2 in La Liga and 2.68 in the Champions League.