Revealed: Arsenal lead Chelsea in race to sign £50m star thanks to Mikel Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has held direct talks with Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams in order to present his project to the Spanish star, CaughtOffside understands.

Arsenal could face competition from Chelsea for Williams, though sources have indicated that Arteta’s pitch to the player looks to have put the Gunners in a commanding position.

Still, it also remains to be seen if Barcelona and Real Madrid could still join the race for Williams this summer, with both clubs long-term admirers of his.

The 22-year-old is an exciting talent who will surely be leaving Athletic Bilbao before too long, especially as he has a tempting £50m release clause in his current contract.

Nico Williams to the Premier League, or to one of Spain’s big two?

CaughtOffside understands that Arsenal and Chelsea are showing the strongest interest from England right now, but Williams is also firmly on the radar of Spain’s big two.

Real and Barca would be hard for any player to turn down, though Williams might perhaps do better to look at one of the two London giants.

It’s hard to imagine the Spain international would get as much of a key role at Barcelona right now due to the presence of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Dani Olmo in the attacking midfield department.

Likewise, Real Madrid already have Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes in attack, so Williams might find he struggles for playing time.

Nico Williams tipped as Mikel Arteta’s first choice

It’s not too surprising that Arteta has seemingly made a direct appeal to Williams to move to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal expert Charles Watts recently wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column that he felt Williams would be the manager’s first choice.

“At this point I just can’t say who Arsenal will sign. I don’t think anyone can. The club will have their targets and we’ll just have to wait and see who they get,” Watts said.

“I still believe Nico Williams would be Arteta’s first choice. But we all know by now that might be a difficult one to get over the line.”

Chelsea could also surely do well to sign Williams as an upgrade on struggling attacking players like Joao Felix, Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and Mykhailo Mudryk.

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