Manchester City have reportedly joined the race for Athletic Bilbao attacker Nico Williams.
Williams is out of contract next summer and looks set to depart the club from where he rose through the youth ranks.
After making his first-team debut in the 2020-21 season, Williams has since become a regular with the Basque club despite some injury concerns so far this season.
The 21-year-old is also now a fully-fledged Spain international, and has scored one goal and provided three assists in three appearances in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Spanish outlet AS claim that Man City are now circling the player, along with many others in England and Spain, given the possibility of signing him for a cut-price fee.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are reported to be interested, as well as Liverpool and Aston Villa, who according to BirminghamLive, are willing to offer a reasonable transfer fee despite his pending contract expiry.
© Reuters
The report states that financial difficulties mean that Athletic would be unable to offer Williams new terms that could even get close to what he may get offered by a club in the Premier League or the Spanish giants.
William's agent has admitted that his club are yet to offer him fresh terms, putting some of Europe's biggest clubs on high alert.
Speaking to El Periodico de Espana recently, Williams said he was flattered that "big teams" were monitoring his progress.
Williams revealed: "I feel very good. I think that this season I am making a leap in quality, I am growing as a footballer, which is what I work for every day. That big teams like Barca, Madrid or clubs in England are watching me means that I am doing my job well."
The forward was among the scorers along with his brother Inaki Williams in an impressive 3-2 win over Villarreal two weeks ago, helping him to regain a place in Luis de la Fuente's Spain squad for the upcoming internationals.
Williams missed out on October's squad, but was one of the main performers as Spain recorded 7-1 and 6-0 wins over Georgia and Cyprus respectively, in September, scoring in Tbilisi and recording two first-half assists against the group's whipping boys.
