Nico Williams has been praised for his conduct by his brother Inaki after a ‘complicated’ summer which saw the youngster turn down moves away and commit his future to Athletic Club.
Williams was hotly pursued by a number of teams including Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Barcelona but, after months of negotiations, the 22-year-old opted to sign a new contract to remain in Bilbao.
“On a family level, it’s been a bit complicated because there’s been a lot of talk about my brother, and much of what’s been said about Nico is untrue,” Inaki Williams said. “At many points this summer, people haven’t been fair to my brother.
“Nico was able to choose because he had many offers and many teams bid for him, as he’s a top-level player with a clause that could have been easy to assume. He was a sweetheart for the big teams.
“It wasn’t easy because all the external noise can make him doubt, but he made the best decision. Things happened that caused a lot of damage, like the mural being vandalized, a car window being broken. He made his decision with his heart and ambition.”
Inaki Williams: I saw things from Bilbao fans that I did not like
Williams had an intriguing €58 million release clause in his contract that led to numerous teams wanting to sign him for more than a year, leading to an intense public battle.
Links to Barcelona prompted Bilbao fans to deface a mural with his face on it and Inaki admitted he felt protective over his younger brother due to the events.
“Many teams have wanted him when he’s only 22 years old. He’s kept quiet and I’ve had to stop him many times because I saw things he didn’t like,” he said.
“The people at Athletic should understand that it’s not easy to make a life decision in a short time. The decision was his and there was no pressure on my part. In the first league game when he jumps to San Mamés, he’s going to receive enormous affection.”
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