Arsenal transfer news: Major Nico Williams update after £87.2m ‘market-testing exercise’

Arsenal have supposedly been handed a significant boost in their attempts to lure Nico Williams away from Athletic Bilbao this summer.

The Gunners and Barcelona appeared primed to battle for the signature of the Spain international in 2025, and the La Liga giants were ostensibly on the verge of welcoming him to Camp Nou.

However, following an alleged dispute over registration scenarios, Williams shocked the footballing landscape by signing a new 10-year deal at San Mames until the end of the 2034-35 campaign.

Williams’s unprecedented contract renewal is no guarantee that he will spend his prime years with Athletic, though, as his terms are understood to contain a release clause set at €100m (£87.2m), an affordable fee for most top European teams.

Now – just one year after signing his blockbuster new contract – intermediaries have informed Arsenal that Williams is ready to consider taking the next step in his career, TEAMtalk reports.

Arsenal ‘ones to watch’ in Nico Williams transfer race

The report adds that the Spain international is not desperate to force an exit from San Mames this summer, but if an interested party presents an ideal project, they will give it plenty of consideration.

Williams has not been at the peak of his powers this season, only registering four goals and six assists in 26 games in all competitions, contributing to Athletic lying in a disappointing ninth place in the La Liga table14 points off the top four.

The Basque outfit’s troubled season is understood to be another factor in Williams’s desire to move on, as he believes that Athletic cannot match his own level of ambition, unlike Champions League-chasing Arsenal and Barcelona.

The Gunners and the Blaugrana are not the only two clubs to have been contacted over the attacker’s stance, though – Chelsea, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Liverpool are also involved in this ‘market-testing’ exercise.

However, Mikel Arteta’s team have been named as ‘ones to watch’ in the heated battle for Williams, who has registered a total of 35 goals and 36 assists in 193 matches for Athletic across all competitions at senior level.

Arsenal transfer news: Is Nico Williams worth £87.2m?

As Eberechi Eze has not turned out to be the explosive left-winger Arsenal are after, it is no surprise that Arteta and Andrea Berta are keeping an eye on possible opportunities in that area of the field.

Gabriel Martinelli has excelled in cup tournaments this season but has struggled for consistency in the league, while Leandro Trossard is in his 30s and could leave as a free agent at the end of the 2026-27 campaign.

Some Gooners may have gripes with Arsenal paying £87.2m for a winger who has only scored four goals and provided six assists this season, but the underlying stats tell a slightly different story on the playmaking front.

Williams ranks in the top 6% of wingers in Europe’s big five leagues for Expected Assists – suggesting he would have more to his name if his teammates were more clinical – and he sits in the top 5% for successful dribbles, touches in the opposition box and possession won in the final third.

The 23-year-old still has his best seasons ahead of him too, but as his numbers in 2024-25 were not spectacular either, maybe £50m-£60m would be a fairer price.