Barca missed Nico Williams: The price of arrogance

Barca failed to buy Nico Williams because of his arrogant attitude, then received a complaint and a heavy penalty from UEFA.

1. Nico Williams has been positive about joining Barcelona, ​​which is perfectly normal, especially given his close relationship with Lamine Yamal.

That path has been chosen by many Bilbao legends before, including former goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta – an important member of the “Dream Team” under Johan Cruyff, with 4 consecutive La Liga titles (1990/91, 1991/92, 1992/93, 1993/94), and the first Champions League in the club’s history (1991/92).

Nico Williams decided to stay in Bilbao. Photo: EFE

What Barca lacked, however, was finesse against Bilbao. Joan Laporta and Barcelona behaved with such arrogance that Jon Uriarte, the Basque club’s president, had to order an audit of their rivals’ finances – which would not have passed any serious scrutiny.

The difference here is that the Spanish Sports Council (CSD) allowed Barca to register Dani Olmo in January, against all reason (while La Liga did not allow it due to financial violations).

Now Barca have the ambition to pay 62 million for Nico Williams, plus 25 million invested in the deal for goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

This is unrealistic, no matter how many players Laporta sells or how many “ economic levers” he offers such as VIP slots at the new Camp Nou.

2. Laporta, who was “used to driving on the sidewalk” – as Alfredo Relano, honorary president of AS newspaper, said – thought he could fly.

Nico Williams' agent, on the other hand, kept his cool and demanded a guarantee of playing time or he would leave on a free.

Barca was arrogant and punished. Photo: EFE

All the beautiful words that Laporta and Deco had said collapsed.

While Olmo is optimistic that “everything will be fine in the end” , his registration was also due to Christensen's serious injury and the “arbitrary” actions of the CSD.

So Nico Williams and his agent returned home, where while there was no “bro” (the term for his relationship with Lamine Yamal), there was still a brother (Inaki).

Nico decided to extend his contract with Bilbao with a 100 million euro release clause – a more reasonable figure given his abilities.

Right at the time Nico renewed, UEFA announced a fine of 60 million euros for Barca: 15 million euros had to be paid immediately; the remaining 45 million euros depended on whether the club would make financial adjustments or not.

Three seasons ago, Javier Tebas – president of La Liga – turned a blind eye to Barca using a “virtual lever” called Barca Studios to register Jules Kounde, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, and then that season they won La Liga.

Last season, Tebas was stricter with Olmo, but CSD came to the rescue. So there was another La Liga title (plus the Copa del Rey; Super Cup).

Barca have the motto “more than a club”. Bilbao are the same, even more than their Catalan rivals, although they don’t flaunt it.

Bilbao represents the aspirations and identity of a people, so closely tied that they accept only players trained in their own land (only Basques are allowed to play).

Such a club cannot be outdone by Barca, no matter how pampered their opponents are.

3. Laporta has had four years of non-compliance with financial fair play since his return. He has run red lights countless times and intends to continue doing so.

Dani Olmo was a clear offender for Barca and was rescued by the CSD. Photo: EFE

Now, he wants to unreasonably inaugurate the new stadium with the Joan Gamper Cup match to create “leverage” from VIP seats, but at the same time asked La Liga (and was approved) to not play at home until the fourth round.

The violations that Barca did in Spain were still accepted, because they always played the victim (even the case of Laporta's unfair treatment of Lionel Messi).

UEFA slapped not only Barca, but also Spanish football – a place that allowed such irregularities to exist, including the club paying referees for years in exchange for playing field benefits.

La Liga's accounting rules are not Tebas's whim. They were created to stop clubs from spending irresponsibly, to the detriment of those who do business transparently.

When the economic control system was established, Spanish professional football owed 700 million euros in taxes; 1 billion euros in bank debts; 500 million euros between teams, and an estimated 60 million euros in player wages.

Now all that has been resolved, with Nico Williams staying at home and Barca paying a fine to UEFA.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/barca-vo-mong-nico-williams-cai-gia-cua-su-ngao-man-2418967.html