Nico Williams reopened the 'soap opera' with the Athletic Club fans due to his closeness to FC Barcelona. On Sunday, the Basque winger received numerous criticisms from Bilbao fans for dedicating the celebration of his first goal of the season (in the victory against Las Palmas) to Alejandro Balde, as confirmed by the forward himself on his Instagram account. The '11' uploaded a photograph of his particular celebration that quickly went viral on social networks due to the comments of Lamine Yamal and Álex himself.
"That celebration, why?" wrote Barça's '19', a comment that Nico quickly responded: "For my little brother Balde." The Barça defender did not read the comment and wrote: "Who are you dedicating it to?", a comment that amused the youngest Williams. "I dedicate it to you and you put this on me..." wrote the one from Pamplona. The post had more than half a million likes and as many thousands of comments, many of them from Barça fans inviting him to sign for the Barça team.
However, there was also several criticisms from Athletic fans, which is why the Bilbao '11' decided to restrict the comments on the publication. The 21-year-old has had a more difficult start to the season than expected, with only 1 goal in 5 games (301 minutes). The team led by Ernesto Valverde barely has 7 points out of a possible 15, placing itself in 11th place in the LaLiga standings.
The 'angry' of Athletic fans over Nico Williams' dedication to Balde
In Bilbao, several fans expressed their annoyance before the 'El Chiringuito' cameras over Nico's dedication to Balde. "Think about the fans, we don't like that type of comments because it is not appropriate"; "think more about the Barça fan than the Athletic fan"; "After all the 'turra' of the summer it's already tiring; let him dedicate it to his Athletic teammates," were some of the comments from Bilbao fans.
Others, for their part, were more understanding, understanding the friendship between two teammates from the Spanish National Team, where both have coincided both in the youth and senior teams. The truth is that the rope is once again tightening between the Basque fans and the youngest Williams, after an intense summer where, for several weeks, his departure to Barça was considered done. Although the winger decided to stay to play in the Europa League, the club understands that, in 2025, it will be very difficult to avoid his departure again.