Nico Williams's decision to renew his contract with Athletic Club until 2035 has been a real cold shower for Barça's inner circle. The Navarrese winger, who seemed to have one foot in Camp Nou, has ultimately chosen to stay at San Mamés with a salary increase and a higher release clause.
The reaction was immediate. One of the most publicly affected has been Jota Jordi, a regular panelist on El Chiringuito, who had argued for weeks that the signing was a done deal. His optimistic statements have backfired, and social media have made the most of his misfortune.
The message of discord
On the morning of Friday, July 4, just hours before Nico's renewal became official, Jota Jordi wrote on his X account:
"Caaaaaalma. This is very simple. Nico wants it more than ever, Barça wants it... and Nico will be a blaugrana this season."
In that same message, he blamed LaLiga president Javier Tebas and pressure from Bilbao for the delay in the deal. He claimed Barça would do their job and that there was no reason to be alarmed. However, shortly after, reality hit him in the face: Athletic announced the renewal of their star player.
Jota Jordi's anger live
Hours later, Jota Jordi exploded on Twitch and announced that he would reveal "everything he couldn't say before." According to him, executives, players, and even Nico's own friends were unaware that he was going to renew. He claimed he now felt free to reveal details of the deal that Barça didn't want to come to light while negotiations were ongoing.
"I'm going to feel very relieved," said the panelist, hinting that he would explain the real interests behind the deal and who has benefited from all this. For him, it's more of a "business" than a sporting decision.
The ridicule on social media
Reactions on social media didn't take long to appear. Screenshots of Jota Jordi's past statements—such as the one in which he assured that Barça would pay the €58 million clause on July 1 or 2—quickly went viral.
Users have criticized the lack of journalistic rigor and the way many Barcelona-based media outlets took the signing for granted. Jota Jordi has become a recurring meme throughout the day, being one of the most talked-about topics on Twitter/X.
A move reminiscent of Mbappé
The feeling at Can Barça is that they've been used, just as happened with Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid two summers ago. Nico Williams has come out financially stronger, while Barça have lost time and public credibility.
The Navarrese winger had openly shown his desire to play for Barça alongside Lamine Yamal, and even verbally accepted complicated conditions such as the lack of written guarantees. However, at the last moment, his agent Félix Tainta asked to add a clause that the Catalan club was not willing to accept.
A night of revelations
Jota Jordi has promised to reveal all the ins and outs of the case tonight, during a special program on El Chiringuito with Josep Pedrerol. His goal, according to him, is for culés to understand what really happened and why a signing that seemed closed fell through.
Meanwhile, Barça will have to redo their plans and look for alternatives. Nico Williams's renewal is now official and his future, at least for now, will remain tied to Athletic Club.