Nicholas Williams Arthuer was born July 12th, 2002, in Pamlona, Spain, to Ghanian parents Felix and Maria. Aged nine he joined his elder brother Inaki at Athletic Bilbao’s youth academy where his lightning pace and dribbling skills immediately caught the eye.
Inaki has gone on to forge a very successful career at Bilbao as a forward, netting 75 goals in 341 appearances. At the start of 2023, the Ghanian international made headlines both home and abroad when he completed 251 games in a row.
As for Nico, his name shortened as a child and it sticking, such was his development that he was loaned out to Basconia, a feeder team for Bilbao, despite being barely out of school.
| Per year | €10,582,011 | £8,900,243 |
| Per month | €881,834 | £741,686 |
| Per week | €203,500 | £171,158 |
| Per day | €28,991 | £24,383 |
| Per hour | €1,207 | £1,015 |
| Per minute | €20 | £16 |
Soon after came a string of outings for Bilbao’s reserves, then in May 2020 the flying winger made his professional debut, brought on with minutes to spare against Real Valladolid. With Inaki also playing it was the first time two brothers had shared a pitch in La Liga for 34 years.
Nico quickly found his feet at the highest level, tormenting full-backs on a weekly basis and indeed it could be argued one hundred appearances in that he is the superior talent in the family.
In recent seasons there has been strong transfer rumours linking the player to Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool.
This summer the 21-year-old heads to Germany to represent Spain at Euro 2024. With La Roja among the favourites in the football betting to lift the trophy, and with Williams a key figure in their plans, even bigger things potentially await this down-to-earth superstar-in-the-making.
We can expect an already bumper bank balance to be significantly boosted too.
How Much Is Nico Williams Worth?
Putting all transfer speculation to rest, Williams signed a new three-year deal with Bilbao at the end of 2023, the news trumpeted by the club who were understandably delighted to have retained one of the world’s hottest prospects.
Even so, a reported £51m release clause inserted into the contract will keep the rumour mills churning.
The contract saw the youngster increase his yearly earnings several times over and presently he nets an annual income of £8.9m. That equates to £172,450 a week prior to incentives that themselves can be lucrative.
To put that in context however he is still only the 25th highest earner in La Liga. And he still brings in £10,000 less than his sibling.
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Regardless, an exclusive deal to only wear Nike boots will have come at a great cost to the sporting giants, easily topping a million.
Elsewhere, the player is determined to have as much fun off the pitch as he does on it. Recently, he starred alongside Will Smith in a promo video ahead of this summer’s blockbuster release Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
Demonstrating his considerable wealth, the winger drives a Porche 911 GT3 RS but he is anything but the stereotypical flashy footballer. Earlier this year he and Inaki proudly visited a new school they had paid to be built in Ghana.
Still just 21 years of age, Nico Williams has a net worth of £6m.
Bilbao and Spain
Williams has provided many special moments in the red and white of Bilbao but one particular goal stands out, it subsequently being awarded the Marca Golden Goal of the Season.
With the Lions 1-0 up at home to Seville in early 2019 the ball reached the young star deep in his own half and facing his own goal.
William spun, flicking the ball deftly as he did so, but his marker and nearby full-back both read it, each having a yard’s advantage in the chase.
No matter because the winger’s searing pace saw him burst through, regaining possession and haring forward at a rate of knots. He seemed to cover half the length of a football pitch in a few bounds and in a matter of seconds, rounding the keeper on route at full speed before firing low into an empty net.
The goal said everything about Nico Williams. There was pace to burn. A directness that is every defender’s worst nightmare. And lastly, his ambition to even attempt such an individual feat.
It’s little wonder that he has become a favourite of the online betting community, blessed with the ability to alter a game’s course in a moment.
Such ingenuity soon had the public clamouring for this exciting talent to be given an international bow, which duly arrived in 2022 when Luis Enrique called him up for a Nations League clash. That December, Williams featured at the World Cup in Qatar, impressing for the most part.
He is now an established figure in the Spain set-up.
Brothers In Arms
Athletic Bilbao have long had a policy whereupon only players born or raised in the Basque Country could play for them.
That was until Inaki came along, the first black footballer to establish himself at San Mames.
In this regard, Nico followed in his brother’s footsteps and that’s fitting given that his elder sibling partly helped to raise him, with their father moving to England to find work.
For a while Felix was an employee of Chelsea, working the turnstiles on matchdays. Inaki was a pioneer and, to Nico, an inspiration.
Family Life
If the Bilbao forward’s story is inspiring, and Nico’s impressive, they both pale to that of their parents. In search of a better life, Felix and Maria fled Ghana in the mid-Nineties, having to cross the Sahara Desert on foot.
For the rest of his life Felix will struggle to walk, after scorching his soles so severely. Maria was seven months pregnant with Inaki.
On reaching Spain the couple jumped a border fence and found refuge via a Catholic priest who arranged living quarters and secured a place at the local hospital for the birth.
The story is perfectly completed with two details. The priest gave the new-born baby an Athletic Bilbao jersey. And the priest’s name was Inaki, the child named after him.
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*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
