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Arsenal have cooled their interest in winger target Nico Williams after rumours emerged he is prioritising a move to Barcelona, according to the Athletic's David Ornstein.
Fabrizio Romano revealed on Monday evening that clubs interested in acquiring the Athletic Bilbao forward's services were aware he had given priority to a move to the La Liga champions over the Gunners, Chelsea or Bayern Munich.
Barcelona are now reported to have decided to activate a deal for the winger and that appears to have fended off Arsenal's own pursuit of him, meaning they are now two for two in defeats to their Spanish counterparts in the transfer market.
Arsenal cool interest in Nico Williams
🚨 Arsenal / Chelsea cool Nico Williams interest as Barcelona step up pursuit & Bayern Munich consider move. #FCBarcelona want to do deal + appeal to 22yo but complicated by financial situation. #FCBayern made contract offer & may improve it @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/yLOWAeTfxx
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 17, 2025
Okay, a deal for Nico Williams would have been great, but I'm not overly disappointed. He is a very talented player, as shown by his efforts for both Athletic Bilbao and Spain, but with a release clause of €58m, he would've been pricy.
At this current time, Arsenal's priority is bringing a prolific goalscoring striker to the club. That has to be their focus until such a player is brought through the door and if they had been sucked into a bidding war (albeit for a man with a release clause) with Barcelona, their plans may have taken a slight knock.
Taking that into account, it is in fact good news to see that the Gunners have now cooled their interest in Williams. By no means does that take their focus away from signing a winger, but it does allow them to close in on signing a striker without unnecessary distractions.
Arsenal will be back in the market for a wide player. They still have Rodrygo high on their list of targets with Anthony Gordon also reportedly held in high regard. Despite the high likelihood of missing out on Williams, there is no doubt the club aren't short of options.
Fans don't have to panic. There is still plenty of time to go in this transfer window and just because one target has gone elsewhere, the Gunners' entire plans don't have to completely implode.