A Premier League star has effectively agreed to join FC Barcelona this summer according to Mundo Deportivo, which cited anonymous sources.

After successfully landing a new goalkeeper from crosstown rivals Espanyol in Joan Garcia, the Catalans then turned their attention to left winger Nico Williams.

Reports spread that the Euro 2024 winer had already reached a deal with President Joan Laporta and Sporting Director Deco, which would pay him around $8-9 million a year until 2031.

All that remained was raising the Basque’s €58 million release clause, yet out of nowhere before the weekend, Nico shocked Barca and publicly embarrassed it by agreeing a contract extension with Athletic Club until 2035.

Furthermore, his release clause has now risen by 50%. Because of the way he has publicly snubbed the La Liga holders and is now unaffordable to them, Williams will probably never don blaugrana and the quest for a left winger heads back to Barca’s original two choices.

Those are namely Liverpool’s Luis Diaz and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, with the former Colombian player rated at around €80 million while his English counterpart could be worth half of that fee or less.

Both men will have been buoyed by the Williams news and given hope that a dream move to Catalonia could still come off.

According to Mundo Deportivo, talks between Barca and Diaz’s agent have intensified in recent days.

Effectively, Diaz has agreed to join Hansi Flick’s first team squad. Unlike Williams, though, he won’t ask for any clauses or the right to leave for free if there are registration issues.

Nor did Garcia or Dani Olmo last summer, and they switched from Espanyol and RB-Leipzig respectively with patience while fully aware that Barca has struggled to stay on the right side of Financial Fair Play (FFP) limits in recent years, which is vital to getting new signings cleared to play.

Last week, Barca agreed to a potential $70 million fine from UEFA for not doing this. An initial $17.6 million (€15 million) must be paid now, but the full amount will have to be coughed up if it doesn’t get its house in order over the next two years.

Back to Diaz, he has trust that Barca will register him before the end of the summer transfer window and even reportedly plans to put in a transfer request at Liverpool.

Considering the tragic passing of Diogo Jota, however, an immediate response isn’t expected on this matter by the recent Premier League winners.

Bayern Munich could be a rival to FC Barcelona

Elsewhere, Bayern Munich is considered a potential rival to FC Barcelona for Diaz’s signature because of the cruel injury Jamal Musiala suffered in Saturday’s 2-0 Club World Cup quarterfinal defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.