The Basics
Age: 20
Club: Athletic Bilbao
Nation: Spain
Position: Winger
Footed: Right
Under contract until: 2024
Williams began his youth career at CD Pamplona and CA Osasuna before moving to Bilbao aged 11, joining his older brother Iñaki, who has made over 380 appearances for the Basque club.
The winger made his La Liga debut for Bilbao in April 2021 and has since grown into a more prominent role, starting 11 games in the 2021/22 season and 31 in 2022/23. He has scored 6 goals and provided 4 assists this season.
Despite his young age, Williams has already played eight times for Spain, scoring once. His brother represents Ghana, the nationality of Nico and Iñaki’s parents.
The Links
In January, Dominic King of the Daily Mail reported Villa had failed in a bid to sign Williams. He claimed Villa were prepared to pay a £45million release clause, but the Spaniard didn’t want to leave.
Various reports have since stated Villa will return for Williams this summer and that Unai Emery is an admirer.
The Scouting Report
Strengths
Williams is a constant threat to defences, with the ball at his feet or without.
He is a tremendous dribbler and goes past opponents naturally with fluid movement and skill. Williams ranks in the 95th percentile for progressive carries and the 90th for successful take-ons among attacking midfielders/wingers in the ‘Big 5’ leagues over the last year.
Defenders never look comfortable when the winger has the ball, and they still can’t afford to switch off when he doesn’t.
The pace Williams possesses is legit and he uses it to get behind the back four with regularity. He ranks in the 90th percentile for progressive passes received and the 79th for touches in the penalty area, indicating his effectiveness at getting in dangerous areas.
Because defenders must honour his speed, he will fake a run then stop and create space for himself underneath. That’s one of the impressive things about Williams; he isn’t just using physical gifts to win, there is thought behind it.
He doesn’t just bomb down the wing hoping for a ball over the top, he drops between defenders and makes good angles to make himself available for a pass to feet.
At times Williams drifts into central areas, forming a front two and inviting his full-back to push up into the vacant space and join the attack.
When his side are in the final third, Williams showed he can combine with teammates on give and go’s. He lurks at the back post and makes darting runs to the front when he senses an opportunity to score.
He shows upside in a technical sense, flashing clever first time or backheeled passes. Williams comfortable using both feet and can play on the right or left side. His ranking for expected assists (xAG) in the 63rdpercentile shows his creative potential.
Williams pulls his weight defensively. He is aggressive when pressing from the front, sprinting to close down, but still arriving under control and able to cut off passing lanes. He tracks back when his team is under pressure and stays disciplined in his positioning.
Compared to his positional peers, Williams ranks in the 82nd percentile for blocks, the 58th for clearances and the 77th for aerial duel win rate. He stands at 5’11” and this helps him compete in the air.
Weaknesses
It’s clear Williams is still raw, which is to be expected for a 20-year-old. His play is untidy at times, looking in control then randomly taking a bad touch and losing the ball. He ranks in the 15th percentile for miscontrols and the 35th for number of times dispossessed.
His passing needs work. Crosses or even simple passes will be over or under hit, or sometimes simply straight to an opponent. Williams’ pass accuracy this season is just 66.6%, which puts him in the 14th percentile.
Williams is also a bit lightweight, and he may need to put on some bulk to be effective in the Premier League, should he end up there.
In 71 La Liga appearances, Williams has only 10 goal contributions, all of them coming this season. While this campaign’s production is encouraging in terms of what could come, the overall numbers aren’t much to shout about.
Fit With Villa
Unlike some players examined in this series, Williams doesn’t offer the flexibility to play multiple positions, he’s an out and out winger.
He can play on the left or right, though, and should transition well to Villa’s current 4-4-2, replacing one of the ‘wide 8’s’ with a genuine winger as Leon Bailey has at times. Williams would also suit a 4-3-3 should Emery choose to mix things up.
If he plays on the left, Williams could form an exciting tandem with Álex Moreno, with the winger shifting into central positions and creating space for the full-back to attack.
There is very real adaptation risk with Williams. He didn’t want to leave Bilbao in January, and perhaps he simply felt this wasn’t right in the middle of a season, but should a transfer happen this summer, it would be a big change in a young player’s life.
He would be moving to a foreign country at 20 years old, for a big transfer fee, leaving his brother and a club which fosters a family atmosphere behind.
Bilbao only fields players native to or trained in the Basque regions of Spain or France. This places a huge emphasis on the club’s ability to develop young talent. Many players spend long period of their careers at Bilbao, and leaving would be a huge decision for Williams.
Should he take the leap and move to Villa, the club would have one of the best young players in the world on their hands.
Similar Players
The 10 closest statistical comparisons to Williams, according to FBREF, are:
- Hirving Lozano
- Saïd Benrahma
- Jonathan Ikone
- Samuel Chukwueze
- Junya Ito
- Álex Berenguer
- Gabriel Martinelli
- Karim Adeyemi
- Armand Lauriente
- Marius Bülter
Chukwueze would make sense as an alternative for Villa, given his experience with Unai Emery at Villarreal.
Transfer Targets series:
The Villa Ramble 
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