A Spanish media report stated that Athletic Bilbao is still struggling to keep its star Spanish player Nico Williams, amid Barcelona's desire to acquire his services.

According to what the Spanish network "Ser" mentioned, Athletic Bilbao's management plans to prevent Barcelona from activating the release clause in the contract of their international player Nico Williams, due to what they described as the Catalan club's failure to return to the 1/1 rule.

The source added that Bilbao plans to submit a request to La Liga and the Spanish Federation for full oversight of all financial operations conducted by Barcelona, amid doubts regarding the Catalan club's ability to complete the deal without complying with financial fair play regulations.

It seems that the Basque club is striving to retain its young star and is using all legal means to prevent his transfer to "Camp Nou".

Nico Williams has a release clause in his contract with Bilbao valued at 58 million euros, and the deal could reach 62 million euros due to inflationary adjustments.