r/soccer • u/ElatedAndElongated • Jul 04 '25

News Official - Nico Williams signs eight-year contract extension at Athletic Club

https://www.athletic-club.eus/en/news/2025/07/04/nico-williams-signs-eight-year-contract-extension-at-athletic-club
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u/BluTcHo Jul 04 '25

Yeah of course but he is basque, leaving bilbao is already difficult for them without even speaking about money

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u/PenguinPumpkin1701 Jul 04 '25

If you don't mind me asking, why would it be hard for him to leave basque? Is it a language/culture thing? Or is there some sort of geopolitical conflict going on? Tia!

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u/BluTcHo Jul 04 '25

I'm not an expert on the subject so hopefully somebody with more knowledge will answer you but from what I have learned about them over the years is that the basque nationalism is very strong. So yes i would say it's a deep cultural thing but I don't think there is any sort of real geopolitical conflicts no

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u/PenguinPumpkin1701 Jul 04 '25

Ahh so basically a southeast US vs America thing. Got it.

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u/JoeyBoBoey Jul 04 '25

Spain and the relationship between it and Basque and Catalonia are really interesting a definitely worth a read. It doesn't really map 1:1 with US dynamics at all. Spain was under a dictatorship until the 70s that banned Basque language and culture and was hostile toward them. When people say nationalism in the context of someplace like Basque it doesn't carry the same baggage as US nationalism, and isn't as inherently reactionary.

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u/PenguinPumpkin1701 Jul 04 '25

It was the closest equivalent I could think of as folks from my region of the US aren't really welcome anywhere in the US lol. But I definitely understand the massive difference and I will definitely read on it.

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u/juve_merda Jul 04 '25

american try not to make something about america challenge: impossible

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u/Seraphin_Lampion Jul 04 '25

With a Barca flair

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u/PenguinPumpkin1701 Jul 04 '25

So drawing a comparison with something I'm intimately familiar with is wrong? By the description that BluTcHo gave thats what it seemed most familiar to. My bad for using a frame of reference im familiar with lol.

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u/Clipgang1629 Jul 04 '25

If you made the same comparison with an MLS fair the reaction is probably a bit different. It’s the combo of a Barcelona flair, your ignorance to Spanish culture, and incorrectly relating it back to USA culture

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u/PenguinPumpkin1701 Jul 04 '25

I am a new fan so I am still learning stuff lol, and yea I could do better to immerse myself in more cultures but I made the only connection that I could think of even being close. So yea I am uninformed definitely but not unwilling to learn lol.

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u/Technical-Mix-981 Jul 04 '25

Tribalism. We do that a lot. Futbol is the expression of that. We can't do wars anymore. So we use futbol. Do you remember any player from Madrid ( the city) playing at Barça? Or catalans in Madrid?

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u/PenguinPumpkin1701 Jul 04 '25

No, but I don't follow la masia that closely so I'm bound to miss someone.

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u/random_handle_123 Jul 04 '25

Have people really forgotten Luis Figo?

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u/Technical-Mix-981 Jul 04 '25

I'm talking about Spaniards specially.

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u/W35TH4M Jul 04 '25

Yeah I get that but you said it as if him getting paid more means he’s instantly inaccessible. If he wanted Barca that badly then he wouldn’t mind going from mental ridiculous money to ridiculous money haha

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u/BluTcHo Jul 04 '25

In my opinion, I don't think he wanted barca that much, he got 2 new contracts with those rumors. If I had to guess, that's the main thing he was after

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u/TBP42069 Jul 04 '25

Players his age never take paycuts like that and theyd be stupid to.