Liverpool Eyes Nico Williams as Salah Successor Amid Arsenal Interest
The names keep coming back around. For Liverpool, one in particular refuses to leave the conversation.
Nico Williams, World Cup winner and long‑touted La Liga climber, is once again on the radar at Anfield as the club continue the painstaking hunt for a long‑term replacement for Mohamed Salah.
PSG’s Bradley Barcola remains the preferred option in the recruitment meetings, the forward viewed internally as the primary target. But the door to Williams has not closed. Far from it.
Arsenal Push Ahead, Liverpool Lurk
Transfer specialist Ekrem Konur reports that Liverpool have renewed their interest in the 24‑year‑old Athletic Club winger, yet they are not currently in pole position.
“Liverpool are interested in Nico Williams, but Arsenal’s pursuit is currently more advanced,” Konur stated on X, outlining the shape of the race.
He added that Arsenal have made fresh contact over the player, with sporting director Andrea Berta now examining whether a deal can realistically be done. The key number is clear: Williams’ contract contains a £77m release clause, a figure several Premier League clubs – including Arsenal – are capable of triggering without stretching their finances to breaking point.
Liverpool, then, are in that familiar transfer territory: keen, watching, but not alone.
The Talent and the Price
Williams has been on the verge of a big move for what feels like an age. Last summer he came close to joining Barcelona, only for the story to twist dramatically. Instead of Camp Nou, he signed a shock ten‑year deal at Athletic Club, tying him to San Mamés until 2035.
That contract, though, came with a safety valve – the £77m clause that now frames every conversation around his future.
On the pitch, the winger’s best spell remains the 2023/24 campaign. That season he lit up La Liga for Athletic with 18 direct goal involvements in 31 league games, then carried that form into the international arena as one of Spain’s standout performers in their EURO 2024 triumph. Pace, bravery on the ball, a constant willingness to attack his full‑back: he looked ready for the elite.
Since then, the numbers have cooled. Across his last two league seasons he has collected only ten goal involvements – 5 goals and 5 assists in 2024/25, followed by 6 goals and 4 assists in 2025/26. Respectable figures, but not the return of a guaranteed game‑changer. He has yet to score more than 11 goals in all competitions in any single season of his career.
That’s where the debate begins. Is there genuine value at £77m for a player who still hasn’t produced elite end product over a sustained period? Or is this the moment to back the ceiling rather than the statistics?
Liverpool’s Dilemma After Salah
For Liverpool, the comparison is brutal. Salah, even in a season framed as a step down, still delivered 12 goals and 10 assists last term. Those are the standards any successor will be judged against, fairly or not.
Williams brings electric acceleration, sharp changes of direction and the kind of one‑v‑one ability that can rip open low blocks – all qualities Liverpool crave on that right flank. Yet the cold reality is that they are losing one of the most reliable finishers and creators of the Premier League era. They cannot afford to get this call wrong.
So the question hangs over Anfield and over the market: do Liverpool gamble big on Williams’ potential, or does that £77m price tag push them to look elsewhere while Arsenal test Athletic Club’s resolve?
