FC Barcelona has already set a date to pay Nico Williams' release clause at Athletic Club according to a market expert cited by SPORT.

The domestic treble-winning Catalans have been busy in the transfer market, and released Joan Garcia from his Espanyol contract in a similar fashion on Friday last week.

Lucky that the value didn’t rise because of the goalkeeper surprisingly not making Luis de la Fuente’s latest Spain squad for the Nations League, Barca ended up paying what could prove to be a bargain $28.8 million (€25 million) for one of the 2024/2025 season’s breakout stars, in a development that could end up triggering the early exit of Marc-Andre ter Stegen despite his contract not expiring until mid-2028.

With Garcia’s capture already announced and the 24-year-old signing his six-year deal at the Joan Gamper CT before the weekend, President Joan Laporta and Sporting Director Deco’s next port of call is Nico Williams.

According to various sources, the Euro 2024 winner has already agreed terms with the Blaugrana and will, like Garcia, commit for six terms while being compensated something like $8-9.2 million (€7-8 million) per season.

It now seems like a case of when, not if, the La Liga holders will pay the necessary funds to bring Williams to Catalonia.

As his clause at boyhood outfit Athletic Club in Bilbao is a much higher $66.8 million (€58 million), though, raising the cash wasn’t believed to be as straightforward for Barca which is still recovering from a financial crisis at the turn of the decade which threatened its very existence.

Yet market specialist Miguel Angel Lopez, citing anonymous sources, says that Laporta and Deco have everything in order to buy Williams next week, with his signing expected to be announced after the new financial year starts on July 1 so that the left winger can join his new employers and Hansi Flick’s first team squad for preseason.

If or when Williams is signed by FC Barcelona, manager Flick will have to think about where Raphinha plays. The Brazilian starred in Williams’ left wing slot last term with Lamine Yamal on the right, but he might adopt a more central ‘10’ or CAM role with Dani Olmo a false ‘9’ as a Robert Lewandowski believed to be off to Saudi Arabia is gradually phased out.