Deco: Nico Williams was offered to Barcelona, but Marcus Rashford was the right fit

Barcelona sporting director Deco has spoken to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo about the club’s recent transfer activities.

Unsurprisingly, questions about Nico Williams came up. The Spaniard was linked to Barca, and he was close to joining Barcelona for the second summer in a row.

However, Williams signed a new deal with Athletic Bilbao and continued his stay with his boyhood club.

Asked to explain the baffling transfer collapse, Deco explained that while Williams can cover the wings, he couldn’t play the number nine position like Marcus Rashford or Luis Diaz.

He then went on to claim that Williams’ agent had offered his services to the club and not the other way round.

Deco said: “If a great player like Nico asks us to come, when the agent looks for us, we’ll talk, and that’s how it’s been.

“Football is like that – the player, for whatever reason, didn’t want the conditions that were proposed.

“The agent has his interests, and we don’t know how things are going, but there’s no controversy.

It’s a very easy matter. He gives you a right and a left wing. He doesn’t give you the ‘nine’ aspect.

“We gave them a deadline to respond, but they didn’t respond – they went their way, and we went ours.”

It all worked out for Barcelona as they got Rashford on loan from Manchester United, and Deco revealed that they have an affordable buy option in his deal.

Rashford has found his groove in Spain, becoming increasingly influential with Raphinha and Lamine Yamal suffering knocks.

He will be hoping to convince the Spanish giants to make his stay permanent.

Meanwhile, Williams is still struggling with his end product and has now picked up an injury that has sidelined him for a considerable period.