The Nicos have given a lot to talk about since their days as Athletic youth players. Williams and Serrano, then directed from Lezama, were two of the red and white pearls to follow. Both are currently part of Valverde’s squad, but their paths draw different lines.
Nico Williams is a 22-year-old footballer who is highly sought after at this stage of the game. Nico Serrano, however, had to leave on loan for up to two consecutive seasons, without his experiences away from Bilbao, for one reason or another, being satisfactory. Injuries played a trick on the 21-year-old forward at both Mirandés and Racing de Ferrol.
Both footballers are already teammates in Osasuna’s youth team. Williams ended up at Athletic one season later to join the youth team of Lezama, a youth team where his brother Iñaki was already a part of.
Serrano, however, left the Navarrese club for Villarreal and a few years later was ‘signed’ by the Bilbao club after paying 300,000 euros, which involved controversy with the yellow entity. Both began sharing a team as red and white. The legend of the Nicos started to spread through Lezama since the 2018-19 campaign where they were together in youth.
Williams repeated the following year in Juvenil A, but also jumped to Basconia. Serrano also went through the youth A team, although in his case he even participated in Bilbao Athletic, skipping the intermediate step of the aforementioned Basauri club. In the 2020-21 season, they both started in the rojiblanco reserve team. The youngest Williams made his debut as a lion in the same season under Marcelino.
Nico Serrano’s first-team debut, also with the Asturian coach on the bench, took place in the 2021-22 season, a season in which Nico Williams was already a first-team player for all intents and purposes. There is not much time between the debut of one and the other with the Athletic first team.
The youngest Williams made his debut on April 28, 2021 in a clash between the lions and Valladolid in San Mamés that ended 2-2. His teammate and friend had to wait until September 11, now just over three years ago, for Marcelino to line up with the lions in an Athletic-Mallorca match of the 2021-22 League that ended in a 2-0 red- and- white victory Nico Serrano, strangely, came in the 83rd minute for Iñaki Williams in that match where another Nico also started as a substitute.
Parting of the ways
Valverde’s arrival on the Athletic bench was a turning point in Nicos’ career. Williams continues to be a part of the Athletic’s first team discipline. Serrano, on the other hand, had to pack his bags to leave on loan at Mirandés de Etxebe. The experience at the red club did not go as first expected due, among other reasons, to the injuries suffered by Navarrese.
Last season, Lezama insisted on their idea of giving him away, but Nico barely had a minute in Zwolle in the Netherlands and then, on the way home to leave for Ferrol, he got injured again which prevented him from continuing his upward path. in the Galician club.
A serious shoulder injury, including surgery, prevented him from conducting the preseason normally this time, but Nico Serrano recovered in time to be part of Valverde’s current squad. Now he just needs opportunities.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
