Arsenal will have to put Nico Williams in their highest bracket of earners if they are to sign the Spain winger this summer, Telegraph Sport understands.
Arsenal are long-term admirers of the 22-year-old and have explored the possibility of recruiting him from Athletic Bilbao in previous transfer windows.
With new sporting director Andrea Berta now in position in north London, Arsenal are beginning to formalise their plans for a summer of significant investment in the squad.
The challenge with Williams is not only his release clause at Athletic, which is thought to be around £50 million, but also the winger’s salary requirements.
Williams already earns a huge wage in Spain – he is believed to take home significantly more than £100,000-a-week after tax, in large part because of Athletic’s unique policy of only fielding players from the Basque Country.
This policy means that the club rarely pays significant transfer fees for new players. Indeed, their club-record transfer fee is only £27 million, which they paid fellow Basque side Real Sociedad for defender Iñigo Martinez in 2018. Since the summer of 2019, Athletic have spent only around £24 million on transfers.
Athletic are instead able to divert significant resources towards their wage bill. They also need to pay high salaries in order to retain the best local talent that makes it into their first team.
Any deal to take Williams away from Bilbao would therefore require a much more lucrative contract than clubs might usually expect of a player who is still only 22.
Sources have told Telegraph Sport that the winger’s representatives would expect him to be placed into the same bracket as top earning stars such as Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, who are believed to be earning in the region of £250,000 a week.
Arsenal’s wage bill has already risen considerably since the summer of 2023. Their financial accounts for the 2023-24 campaign showed a 40 per cent increase, to £328 million. They also hope to tie down both Saka and William Saliba to lucrative new contracts, with both players having two years remaining on their deals as of this summer.
Arsenal have long been hoping to strengthen in the wide areas, but must balance that requirement with their other recruitment needs. A new striker is a priority this summer, while they are also expected to invest around £50 million in the signing of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi.
And, as reported by Telegraph Sport earlier this week, sources in Spain regard the north London club as strong favourites to sign Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia this summer.
Williams was one of the stars of Spain’s victory at last summer’s European Championship and has already made more than 125 appearances in La Liga. So far this season, he has scored nine goals in 38 matches in all competitions.
