Spending restrictions have hampered Barcelona move to sign Nico Williams, which if it goes ahead could potentially violate La Liga FFP rules. Athletic Bilbao have already filed a complaint with La Liga regarding Barcelona plans to sign their key player, so I think Barcelona are likely to fail to sign Nico Williams. I also hope Barcelona can quickly get out of the financial crisis, and can build squad depth without any obstacles in the future.
If Barcelona can reach a good deal with sponsors, which helps increase their annual income, maybe the situation will change. For now, Barcelona fans are certainly disappointed, they were hoping for Nico Williams to be Yamal duet partner next season. However, Hansi Flick certainly has no shortage of good players in his team, they have proven that they were able to win trophies last season.
To some extent, Athletic Bilbao are to blame for this situation themselves, because it is no secret that Barcelona have financial problems, and it was naive to expect them to pay the entire amount in a single payment. But Athletic Bilbao decided that they wanted the deal to happen exactly this way.
Actually, the deal has not been canceled, Laporta says that if Barcelona find an opportunity, they will definitely pay the clause. But perhaps it would have been wiser for Athletic Bilbao to agree to a payment in installments, and then this deal would already be done. I also agree that Barcelona do not have an urgent need for new players, as their squad is well balanced. By the way, Laporta also mentioned that they want to keep De Jong in the team, so it is clear they are focused on maintaining the current squad.