Barcelona may dream of signing Nico Williams, but with every passing day it’s becoming clearer they probably won’t be getting their man.

Williams’ bond to Athletic Club remains strong and it’s hard to begrudge him staying with his boyhood club should that be his eventual decision.

All summer long, Barca president Joan Laporta has maintained the club have the finances to acquire Williams at his €60m release clause. Dani Olmo is in line to cost Barcelona a similar amount if a deal is struck with RB Leipzig and it’s not yet known for sure if that is coming out of the Williams budget.

But let’s say that it isn’t and La Blaugrana have €60m to throw on a winger to work in tandem with teenage sensation Lamine Yamal. Who should they target?

We have five suggestions for them…

Though Erik ten Hag has welcomed Jadon Sancho back in from the cold, Manchester United could still sell the winger before the transfer window shuts.

For one reason or another, it just hasn’t worked out for Sancho in his native England, and though it took him a while to get going in the second half of last season on loan at Borussia Dortmund, his Champions League form proved he is still a half-decent winger on the continent.

Sancho has already been tentatively linked with Barcelona this window, but not too much since Williams became their top target.

Bayern Munich are looking towards the future – Michael Olise has joined from Crystal Palace, and talks are ongoing over Rennes’ Desire Doue.

For a relatively senior statesman like Kingsley Coman, he must be wondering what happens next at the club. Will he be trusted to play under new head coach Vincent Kompany? Will he be afforded another chance ahead of the stars of tomorrow?

90min revealed earlier this summer that Bayern would be open to selling Coman at €50m and Barcelona were among the teams monitoring his situation. If Williams falls through, it’s hard to imagine they won’t at least explore this move again.

If Barcelona want a younger alternative to Coman, then it’s probably worth pursuing 19-year-old forward Mathys Tel.

There’s a great pitch Barca could put forward, too. The ol’ ‘Barca DNA’ planting in the Catalan press, questioning his importance to Bayern’s project with fellow Frenchmen Olise and Doue running the flanks.

Bayern tried to end speculation over Tel’s future by tying him down to a new contract in March. But as we’ve learned in football, that matters little if the player is determined to move.

Classic Barcelona, this one.

Juventus have made it very clear that Federico Chiesa can leave this summer, and reports in Italy claim they would be willing to accept bids as low as €20m.

Granted, the 26-year-old’s fitness history makes you wince, and sticking him in Barcelona’s machine of cursed injury luck isn’t likely to improve his fortunes. But if La Blaugrana are really desperate, it’s worth a punt at that price, isn’t it?

The one trait the four other players on this list have in common is they are right-footed, so Pedro Neto is partially here as a bit of a palate cleanser.

Capable of playing anywhere across the frontline and boasting international experience, Neto would suit Barcelona’s famed style and bring the width they crave.

Neto recently claimed he was happy at Wolves, but Barcelona’s knock is different to the Old Gold’s.

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