Nico Williams doesn't measure up to play for FC Barcelona. At least that's what his statistics show.
The purpose of signing Nico Williams for Barça was for him to join the rotations with Raphinha and Lamine Yamal. On equal terms.
But they aren't equal. The numbers from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha in the last season show that Nico Williams is far from their level.
Athletic's providential last-minute intervention to keep the player is a relief for Barça. The blaugrana fans are very demanding and would have expected from the Navarrese player a level, that of Lamine and Raphinha, that's out of his reach.
The data from the last season are compelling. Nico Williams was directly involved in 18 of Athletic's goals (18): scoring 11 goals and providing 7 assists to his teammates.
These are decent numbers for an Athletic player. But not for a Barça footballer, which just won La Liga, Copa, and Supercopa and reached the Champions League semifinals.
25 goals fewer than Lamine and 41 fewer than Raphinha
In that same season, Lamine was directly involved in 43 of his team's goals (43) (25 more than the Navarrese): scoring 18 goals and providing 25 assists. 7 more goals than Nico Williams and 18 more assists.
Meanwhile, the differences with Raphinha are even more overwhelming. The Brazilian star was directly involved in 59 of his team's goals last season. 41 more than Nico Williams.
Raphinha scored 34 goals. 23 more than the Athletic forward. He provided 25 assists, 18 more than Nico Williams offered.
Lamine Yamal's performance
-Goals: 9 LaLiga, 5 Champions, 2 Copa del Rey, 2 Supercopa. TOTAL: 18 goals
-Assists: 15 LaLiga, 4 Champions, 6 Copa del Rey, 0 Supercopa. TOTAL: 25 assists
Total: 43 direct goal involvements
Raphinha's performance
-Goals: 18 LaLiga, 13 Champions, 1 Copa, 2 Supercopa. TOTAL: 34 goals
-Assists: 11 LaLiga, 9 Champions, 4 Copa, 1 Supercopa. TOTAL: 25 assists
Total: 59 direct goal involvements
Nico Williams's performance
-Goals: 5 LaLiga, 5 Europa League, 1 Copa del Rey. TOTAL: 11 goals
-Assists: 5 LaLiga, 2 Europa League. TOTAL: 7 assists
Total: 18 direct goal involvements
It's clear that Nico Williams wouldn't have come to Barça to be a starter. At Barça, more is demanded than what he delivers.