Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted that the club are no longer considering a move for Athletic Club winger Nico Williams.
Williams was heavily linked with a move away from Athletic last summer, with his release clause of €58 million (£48.8 million, $65.2 million) attracting interest from many of Europe’s top clubs.
Still available for the same price, Williams is said to still be on the radar of Premier League duo Arsenal and Chelsea, while Barcelona had also been tipped to reignite their interest in the highly-rated 22-year-old.
Now, however, Laporta has firmly distanced the La Liga champions from making a move for Williams.
“He was one of the candidates last summer, we were evaluating [Dani] Olmo and Nico,” Laporta told TV3. “We have a very good report on this player, who is a very good player, but I think that at the moment we are evaluating other options.”
Bayern Munich have also been linked with Williams but a move to England seems most likely for the Spain international should he decide to leave his boyhood club this summer.
Williams flirted with a departure last year before ultimately deciding to stay with Athletic, and is not believed to have made a decision on a potential exit this time around yet.
While Williams’ release clause makes him an attractive proposition, any suggestions of a cut-price transfer are wide of the mark as it is believed the winger will demand upwards of £200,000 ($267,000) a week from interested clubs.
The young winger already earns a similar salary at Athletic, who operate a unique business model that allows them to stockpile transfer funds and heavily invest in local talent, and it is believed Williams would seek a raise were he to depart.
A decision is expected after Athletic’s final game of the season, which coincidentally is against Barcelona on Sunday.