'Very easy' - Agent of Arsenal and Chelsea 'target' explains player's transfer decision
The agent of one of Arsenal and Chelsea’s reported summer targets has been speaking about his client’s big decision.
The agent of reported Arsenal and Chelsea target Nico Williams has been speaking about the winger’s decision to reject transfer advances during the summer transfer window just gone. A number of clubs are said to have enquired about the Euro 2024 star, with Arsenal linked, while Barcelona made it clear that they were ready to strike a deal.
With Williams having a release clause worth a reported £47million, it was always going to be up to the player himself whether he wanted to leave Athletic Club. But happy with his surroundings, and playing alongside brother Iñaki Williams, Williams decided to stay put for at least another full season.
That’s a brave decision and not one often seen in the modern game, with players usually jumping at their chance to land a move to a big club. Williams’ agent Felix Tainta has now opened up on the situation.
"The lad has had an incredible, spectacular year, and for me he has confirmed it by being, for me, the best player of Euro 2024," Tainta said. "We have had a lot of movement, a lot of travel... We're happy, but everything is compressed into a very short time and we arrive at the end of the market stressed.
"The boy has decided to stay for another year. We are here to work, support him in all his decisions and advise him. He wanted to stay. It is proof that when a player wants to stay at a club he stays and when he wants to leave he leaves. It is not the agent who puts a gun to his head and says 'go away, I want you to come where I want'.
"The player and the family have total absolute freedom. It is very easy to attack the agent, we are always the ones who take all the blows. We are the cancers of football, the leprosy of football, but then there are many sporting directors who do not have a club and become agents. We have been fighting with that for some time. Each player decides where he wants to be."
Barcelona and others, potentially including Arsenal and Chelsea, are likely to come calling next summer.