"Nico doesn't deserve the pressure he's been under"

International goalkeeper Unai Simon said Athletic Club teammate Nico Williams has "not deserved the pressure he has been under" during Euro 2024, with reports of a possible move to Barcelona that ‘90% of it was made up’.

"It has been a very complicated month and a half for him. It's not easy the pressure that a 22-year-old kid has been under and the only thing he has to blame for is having been one of the best wingers in Europe," said Simon when asked about Nico at his press conference at Lezama.

Simon revealed that one of the things he said to the younger Williams in Germany was that he had "earned the respect of the Athletic dressing room and the Spanish national team dressing room".

"Nobody is going to say anything to him about the decision he makes, it's impossible. We will all be happy. The only advice I can give him is that after everything he has been through, after the year he has had, he should enjoy his holidays with his people and his friends and then come back here with his batteries recharged," concluded Simon.