The die is cast. He won't be Lamine Yamal's teammate at Barça and they will only meet again in the national team.
The young blaugrana promise was his main supporter at the Azulgrana club. He trusted that next season they could both fulfill their dream of succeeding together dressed in blaugrana.
He has finally decided to reject Barça's offer. This forces Barça's technical secretariat to redouble their efforts to find a reliable winger to rotate with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.
Neither Nico Williams nor Marcus Rashford
Nico Williams is the second star to drop from Deco's list of candidates for the attacking position that Ansu Fati doesn't cover reliably. Rashford got tired of Barça's indecision about his registration and ended up signing for Aston Villa.
Despite this serious setback, Barça is on its way to regaining its financial normalcy. The 20 million euros (22 million dollars) income from Nico's transfer to City is coming in. Meanwhile, the prizes for the Super Cup and the excellent qualification for the Champions League round of 16 are added.
Now comes the good part. With the return to Camp Nou, revenues will increase from subscribers and ticket sales. Meanwhile, other parallel income streams that depend on Camp Nou will also arrive.
Barça will no longer have solvency problems to meet the financial plan and will be able to broaden its horizons to tackle high-profile signings. The best-positioned has always been Erling Haaland. However, there are more than justified doubts about his performance after the season he is having at City.
That's the future. The present is that Deco has to cross Nico Williams off his list of targets.
A 60 million gem in the market
Williams did everything he could to sign for Barça last summer. He didn't end up signing because no one assured him that he could be registered.
Nico Williams is currently a gem in the European market due to his 60 million clause. PSG, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich have shown interest in him, but it seems that Arsenal will finally win the race.
The news, which has already reached Deco's ears, doesn't pose a serious disruption for Barça either. Nico Williams's numbers this season are far from those playing in his position in Flick's team: Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.