Athletic Bilbao star Nico Williams to prevent Ghana from capping him amid Spain links
Nico Williams has been handed his first Spain call-up by Luis Enrique for the Nations League games -in a desperate move to prevent Ghana from capping the youngster.
The Athletic Bilbao star has been named in the 25-man squad announced by the gaffer on Friday for the Nations League games.
The 20-year-old winger has been rewarded for his first international call-up following his impressive displays since the start of the season.
However, watchers believe the Spaniard manager called up the talented youngster to prevent Ghana from capping him.
It comes on the heels of the decision of his senior brother Inaki Williams to switch allegiance to Ghana following years of rejection by the Spanish national team.
Luis Enrique revealed the squad via a video filmed while riding his bike. The former Barcelona player and coach, who keeps in shape at age 52 thanks to running and biking, called it his “homage to the recent Spanish Vuelta” cycling race that finished earlier this month.
The video showed the names of the selected players imposed on the hilly and winding road as Luis Enrique cycled along.
Luis Enrique was unable to count on several injured players who helped Spain reach the semifinals of the European Championship last year, including forwards Gerard Moreno, Mikel Oyarzabal and Dani Olmo and central defender Aymeric Laporte.
The most noticeable absence is forward Ansu Fati, who is playing limited minutes for Barcelona but expected to be in Qatar. Nor did Luis Enrique opt for former captain Sergio Ramos, who after a long injury layoff is back to playing for Paris Saint-Germain.
Forward Marco Asensio also made the squad despite little playing time for Real Madrid, while Valencia holding midfielder Hugo Guillamón was listed as a defender by Luis Enrique.
Iglesias finally got the call after scoring four goals in five Spanish league games for Betis this season. Nico Williams scored his first Spanish league goal in the last round in a victory for Bilbao.
