The agent of Athletic Club winger Nico Williams has revealed the in-demand star simply did not want to leave his club this summer.

With a £49m release clause in his contract, Williams looked like he could be one of the biggest bargains of the summer as Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona all chased his signature, but the 22-year-old ultimately rejected all offers in favour of remaining with Athletic.

Speaking to Cadena SER, Williams’ agent admitted it had been a stressful transfer window but praised the winger for staying true to himself.

“The lad has had an incredible, spectacular year, and for me he has confirmed it by being, for me, the best player of Euro 2024,” agent Felix Tainta said. “We have had a lot of movement, a lot of travel… We’re happy, but everything is compressed into a very short time and we arrive at the end of the market stressed.

“The boy has decided to stay for another year. We are here to work, support him in all his decisions and advise him. He wanted to stay. It is proof that when a player wants to stay at a club he stays and when he wants to leave he leaves. It is not the agent who puts a gun to his head and says ‘go away, I want you to come where I want’.

“The player and the family have total absolute freedom. It is very easy to attack the agent, we are always the ones who take all the blows. We are the cancers of football, the leprosy of football, but then there are many sporting directors who do not have a club and become agents. We have been fighting with that for some time. Each player decides where he wants to be.”

Spain teammate Lamine Yamal, a close friend of Williams, has openly admitted his desire to link up with the winger at club level and recently reaffirmed his wish to see the Athletic star join him at Barcelona.

“I don’t know [if Williams will join Barcelona next year],” Yamal told Antena 3. “I would like to play with him every week, I hope to do so, but he’s at Athletic now.”

READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS & GOSSIP FROM AROUND THE WORLD