Barcelona transfer news: Deco takes swipe at Nico Williams and reveals failed Liverpool approach

Barcelona sporting director Deco has taken a swipe at Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams following the winger's collapsed move to Camp Nou during the summer transfer window.

The La Liga champions had seemingly beaten Arsenal and Bayern Munich to a deal for the Euro 2024 winner, who had verbally agreed a six-year contract with Hansi Flick's side.

However, before putting pen to paper, Williams allegedly wanted guarantees that he would be registered in time for the start of the new La Liga season, in order to avoid another Dani Olmo-type situation.

Olmo was not registered for Barcelona's first two games of the 2024-25 La Liga season, as the Blaugrana needed to trim their wage bill to avoid going over their salary cap, and Williams was not prepared to risk a similar delay to his Barcelona career.

Barcelona were taken aback by the demands from Williams's camp, and the move ultimately fell through before the winger agreed an astonishing 10-year contract extension with Athletic Bilbao until the end of the 2034-25 season.

Deco takes aim at Williams after failed Barcelona move

Blaugrana sporting director Deco has now lifted the lid on the saga, firstly revealing that it was Williams's entourage who were pushing for a transfer and insisting that Barca were after a different profile of attacker anyway.

"We never chased Nico Williams. It was his agent who approached us multiple times, not us going after him," Deco told Mundo Deportivo, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano.

"Athletic Club should ask his agent. He wasn’t even exactly the profile we were looking for… you just have to listen."

The former Barcelona and Chelsea playmaker was also critical of Athletic themselves, and warned rival clubs and players that the La Liga champions will not be bullied into bowing to a player's demands.

"Athletic are not an example, not at all," Deco added. "We set the club’s conditions, then negotiations have to be put on paper. We made it clear we wouldn’t accept the conditions they were imposing, because no player is going to dictate terms to us."

Barcelona transfer news: Deco reveals failed move for Bayern Munich attacker

Williams made a bright start to the 2025-26 La Liga season before picking up an injury, registering one goal and two assists in his first three games of the new season, but Athletic have failed to win any of their last four games without him.

In contrast, Barcelona have now leapfrogged Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table thanks to their recent 2-1 win over Real Sociedad, where Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford registered an assist for the fourth top-flight game in a row.

While the England international has hit the ground running at Camp Nou, he was not Barcelona's primary wide target, as Deco also revealed that his side tried and failed to sign Luis Diaz from Liverpool.

"This summer, we tried to sign Luis Diaz too but it was difficult," the 48-year-old revealed. “You always look for solutions, but sometimes deals don’t happen."

Diaz eventually joined Bayern Munich in a £61.1m deal, and the Colombian has registered four goals and three assists in his first eight appearances for the Bundesliga champions.