Athletic Club president blasts Barcelona's 'lack of respect' amid Nico Williams transfer links - but praises Hansi Flick for comments on Spain star

Uriarte was speaking before his side faced Barcelona in Saturday evening's La Liga clash in Montjuic. But while he had kind words for Hansi Flick, who has refused to speak openly about the Catalan pursuit of Williams, he was less enamoured with how others at the club approached the situation.

During and after his star performances at Euro 2024 with Spain, Barcelona wanted Williams and made little attempt to hide it. President Joan Laporta has been unfazed in expressing the club's interest and such comments were often underpinned by a tone of inevitable optimism. Yet a deal for the winger has proved beyond Barcelona, whose financial fragilty has stopped them from being able to register new signing Dani Olmo, forcing him to miss two La Liga games and counting at this stage.

Uriarte told DAZN: "We are calm. It is natural that our players arouse interest in the market. It is normal for Nico's case to be in the eye of the hurricane, but there are things that we did not like, such as lack of respect or assuming things that were not going to happen. But it must be done with respect.

"I liked Flick's words when he said that he wasn't talking about Nico because he was a player from another club."

It seems unlikely that, despite a well publicised release clause, Williams will move on before the August 30 transfer deadline. Barcelona are struggling just to register the players they have and need to offload more, while other clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea haven't taken a serious run at him as yet.