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Athletic Club have been rocked by a major fitness blow as star winger Nico Williams has been sidelined indefinitely to deal with a persistent pubalgia issue. The Euro 2024 hero has been struggling with the abdominal problem since the start of the season. Despite attempts to manage the injury through a combination of tailored training and match minutes, the club finally decided to pull the 23-year-old out of action following the recent match against Real Oviedo.
Despite attempts to manage the injury through a combination of tailored training and managed minutes, the club finally decided to pull the 23-year-old out of action after he missed their recent La Liga victory.
The situation has reached a breaking point for both the player and the coaching staff. Following the clash at the Carlos Tartiere, Athletic boss Ernesto Valverde made his stance clear on the winger’s deteriorating physical state. “Nico has problems and is not 100 per cent. We can’t go on like this. We continue to work on different options, for the moment alternating treatment and competition, and if he does not recover, we are considering letting him rest for a few weeks in order to strengthen the affected area,” the former Barcelona manager explained. Consequently, the player has officially begun a specialised reinforced treatment plan involving external specialists to address the root cause of the pain.
Inaki Williams opens up on brother’s ‘injury hell’
The severity of the situation was further highlighted by the player’s brother, Inaki, who revealed the emotional and physical toll the injury has taken. Speaking after the Oviedo match, the elder Williams brother didn’t hold back on the struggles Nico has faced behind the scenes. “He’s in a bad way, he’s been carrying discomfort since September… It’s true that with the pubis, some days you’re very good and the next you’re bad. I already commented last week that he had told me that he was beginning to see the light… And now it seems that it is two or three steps back,” Inaki confessed.
Statistically, the impact of the injury on Nico’s season is undeniable. While he has appeared in 26 matches across all competitions, he has only been fit enough to start 18 of those, and his influence has waned significantly compared to his blistering form of last season. His total pitch time of 1,728 minutes is nearly 1,200 minutes fewer than teammate Mikel Jauregizar, illustrating how much time the winger has spent in the treatment room or on the bench as a precautionary measure. Inaki added that “he was starting to see the light, and now it looks like he’s taken two or three steps back,” as the relapse forced the club to seek more aggressive non-surgical solutions.
World Cup dreams under serious threat
The timing of this “injury hell” could not be worse with the 2026 World Cup on the horizon. There is now a growing fear that if this conservative treatment fails, Nico may have to resort to surgery, which would almost certainly end his season and potentially rule him out of the tournament in North America. Reports suggest that surgery would require a recovery of at least two months, but could extend to three or four months, leaving him no time to regain match fitness before the June kick-off. Spain manager Luis de la Fuente will be watching closely, as Williams remains a fundamental pillar of the national team’s attack.
Athletic Club’s director of football, Mikel Gonzalez, recently outlined the delicate roadmap the club is following to avoid the operating table. Earlie this month, Gonzalez stated: “We continue working on different options, and if he doesn’t recover, we will assess stopping for a few weeks to insist on abdominal reinforcement treatment.” That hiatus has now officially begun. While the club has not put a public timeframe on his return, sources close to the medical team suggest he will be out for a minimum of four weeks, making him a major doubt for the upcoming Copa del Rey semi-final clash against Real Sociedad.
The surgical dilemma at San Mames
Opting against surgery is a calculated risk for the Basque outfit. Modern medical consensus often leans away from operating on pubalgia in explosive players, as it can lead to a permanent loss of the very speed and acceleration that makes Nico such a lethal threat on the flank. The club’s medical hierarchy remains firm that an operation does not guarantee a 100% recovery and would sideline their prized asset for three to six months.
For now, the San Mames faithful must wait and hope that this period of total rest and core strengthening can finally fix the problem. The club is under no pressure to rush him back, with Inaki suggesting that the team’s current schedule provides a window for patience. However, with no definitive timeline regarding his availability for the most important games of the season, the uncertainty continues to loom over Bilbao. Athletic will have to learn to live without their most dynamic spark as Nico battles to save his season and his World Cup dreams.
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