Athletic Club president Jon Uriarte has strongly criticized the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for failing to protect Nico Williams from an onslaught of questions about his future, Soccernet.football reports.
Williams has been one of the major stars of Spain’s incredible Euro 2024 campaign, making significant contributions in both attack and defense to help La Roja reach the final where they are set to take on England at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
As a result of his impressive displays, the 21-year-old has been repeatedly barraged with questions about whether he would like to remain at Athletic or if he would like to link up with international teammate Lamine Yamal at Barcelona.
In a statement on Thursday, Uriarte said (via ESPN): “Nico is a player who is committed to Athletic.
“He has been subjected to a bombardment of questions about his future in an excessive and uncontrolled manner while at the European Championships. The RFEF have not protected him.
“Respect between all the actors who make up football is a fundamental basis – or that’s how we view it at Athletic – which does not include subjecting players with contracts at one club to public pressure to join other clubs.”
Williams committed to Athletic by signing a new contract at the end of last year to extend his stay at San Mames until 2027 instead of allowing his contract to expire and leaving as a free agent this summer.
“There are no limits to Athletic’s aspirations,” Uriarte added while insisting that the club was capable of fending off any interest in their prized assets.
“We are demonstrating that we have an attractive project, a winning project for our players and our coach.
“The proof of that is that we have renewed the contracts of two of our internationals, Unai Simón (2029) and Dani Vivian (2032), while Nico signed a new deal last year until 2027. Various other sought-after players have also committed their future to the club.
“Athletic are financially, socially and in sporting terms capable of keeping players of the caliber of those named in its structure, including Nico.”
Meanwhile, Williams has maintained that his focus is solely on the Euros, declining to discuss his future beyond the tournament.