Inaki Williams has accused Barcelona of initiating a media campaign intended to “soil” his brother Nico’s relationship with Athletic Bilbao in the hope it would result in a move to Camp Nou.
Inaki, the elder of the two siblings, was speaking this morning in his new role as Athletic captain in a press conference dominated by questions regarding Barca’s long pursuit of Nico that ended with the Spain winger signing a contract extension until 2035.
Barca did not hide the fact they were chasing Nico and sporting director Deco even claimed he wanted to move to Catalonia – words that prompted provoked angry Athletic fans into vandalising Nico’s mural in Bilbao and smashing a window on the player’s car.
Much of what has been said about Nico was a lie
Inaki said: “On a family level it has been a little complicated because there has been a lot of talk about my brother and much of what has been said about Nico is a lie. The only thing he has done has been to remain silent. Everyone has the right to think and reflect on their future. At many times of the summer people have not been fair to my brother.
“The decision for my brother was not easy. His maturity has been incredible.
“He has been able to choose because he had many offers and there have been many teams that have bid for him. He is a player of the highest level.
“Things happened that were dirty, vandalising the mural, they broke a window in his car…
“He has decided with his heart and with ambition. He has decided to be with us and leave his legacy here just like Julen Guerrero did in his day and be a reference for any player wanting to make his way here.”
The external noise has done damage – Inaki
It came as a surprise when Nico did commit to Athletic with all the noise emanating from the Catalan press indicating the 23-year-old would join the Spanish champions, who were willing to pay his €58million release clause.
That, according to Inaki, was not a coincidence.
He added: “We all know how the world of soccer works and what pressure they wanted to exert on all the players, on my brother…
“A media campaign that maybe they thought would work for them. When we, Athletic as a club, want a player we do it in a quiet way. That external noise has done a lot of damage and has soiled things a lot because many of the things that were said and leaked to the media or appeared on social networks were lies.”
