Liverpool were ready to pay a huge fee for Inaki Williams in 2019, according to reports. The forward has since become a record breaker.
This comes from AS. They claim Liverpool were ready to pay a massive fee to sign Inaki Williams from Athletic Bilbao back in 2019.
The Spaniard had a £73m release clause in his contract and the Reds, apparently, had a mind to pay it. Bilbao instead convinced Williams to sign a new deal with them, however and raised his release clause well over £100m in doing so.
Back then, Williams had just finished a season with 12 La Liga goals, winning himself a Player of the Month award in the process. The 25-year-old boasted the skills Liverpool like in their forwards, too – incredibly quick, scoring goals and able to play both centrally and wide.
It wasn’t to be, however, and Williams has since gone on to become a record-breaker with Bilbao. He played his 203rd consecutive La Liga game back on October 1st last year – a La Liga record. The forward is becoming a club legend there.
Liverpool wanted Inaki Williams
We don’t doubt that Liverpool wanted Williams. As we say, he had all the tools that Liverpool liked and at 25, there was room for growth.
But we do doubt that the Reds were ever prepared to meet that £73m release clause. It feels far more likely that they simply wanted to negotiate Bilbao down from that price.
Looking back, though, it feels as though everyone came out of this one better. Williams hasn’t quite exploded into the player he appeared to be, scoring six La Liga goals in each of his two seasons following the interest. Liverpool ended up paying a lot less to sign Diogo Jota in 2020 – a superb signing.
And as Williams goes on to become a club legend with Bilbao, we imagine he’s happy with how it went, too.
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