Nico Williams pulled his room key from beneath his left sock and sat down in a Prague hotel room, fresh from the gym and three years removed from the European Championship that introduced him to global football.
Rain fell outside the Fairmont hotel, and a general strike gripped Spain as the Athletic Club winger addressed everything from a Lamborghini parked in Bilbao to the crushing realities of the country’s housing crisis.
At 24 years old, the forward admits his mother still retains veto power over major purchases like sports cars, though she recently granted him more leeway.
“Yes, yes, yes. I’m already 24. She’s a bit more flexible now,” Williams told El Mundo.
Life has shifted dramatically since his breakout tournament in 2024. Simple tasks like securing a restaurant table or walking through a shopping mall no longer exist without interruption.
Global recognition caught up with him during a 2025 vacation to Mauritius, where airport police and staff waited near baggage claim for photographs after inspecting his passport.
“I thought: ‘Oof, here too!'” Williams told El Mundo.
Behind the fame lies the reality of a modern athlete’s schedule, including a phone usage habit that hit seven hours and 27 minutes during a recent bout of gastroenteritis in Prague.
While the forward enjoys financial security, the conversation quickly turned to the housing strike in Spain and soaring rental prices that leave his peers facing monthly costs of 1,500 euros.
“I am a privileged person because of football, I am clear about that,” Williams told El Mundo. “But the housing problem is something that touches me very closely because I have friends of my own age, even older, who are finding it very difficult to find an apartment.”
“It is something I have lived very closely. In the end, I’m a normal kid and I try to give them my point of view,” Williams told El Mundo.
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