Every other area? What about age? Not to mention Nico already plays in Spain and doesn't need to adapt.
Nico at 58m with comparable salary >>> Lookman.
I already mentioned the age, if you read well.
It is instructive to note that Nico being a regular at Bilbao would not be coming to settle for a bench role at Barca. What Barca needs is a player good enough to relieve any of the front 3 when injured or out of form and equally good enough to contribute to the team or rise up to the occasion with creativity and substance when they are demanded with little or no amortisation in quality.
Nico, a starter for both Bilbao and Spain is not that player, I am afraid. It will be plain dumb for him to come here and accept playing as a support cast. His profile will take a huge dent and he may lose the national team spot If he accepts to come be a part role player here. The best time for him to have come was last summer when the ovation was louder than his capabilities, unfortunately, a new tide of wave has overcome that, with the resurgence of Raphinha.
You may want to argue that his coming will increase competition but history has taught us that such(too many cooks) often distort the team's balance and create off the field tension especially where roles are not so spelt out from the onset.
Aside the foregoing, Nico's TCO will be far higher that the 58m being touted here, he will command a huge salary commensurate to his current profile which may be an unwise financial approach from a club still swimming in the waters of financial imbalances.
Further, Nico can not play well if there is no space to run into. I have watched him since his debut. His skills are somewhat similar to that of Raphinha except that he tends to stick to the lines more than Raphina (who enjoys running into space more centrally and diagonally behind the central defenders). Nico is marginally better than Raphinha on 1v1 and most times relies on pace to beat his opponent. Rapha is better at shooting, aerially and scoring. So why get a player with a profile similar to what you already have? It is poor planning. In low blocks, Nico will be frustrating to watch. In open matches, you already have Raphinha. What Barca needs is a player that can unlock closed up defences with individual brilliance and also intelligent enough to hold up play while team is trying to break open 8/9 man defences. Someone versatile enough to step in at both wings without a noticeable drop in quality. In short, Barca needs another Yamal on the left. A player that fits that role well is Doku, but unfortunately he is with Man city and may be unavailable for long.
I like Nico so much but unfortunately, Barca will be blind to go for him in my opinion, it may end up like another Greizman situation. Mark it down here.
I kind of feel Barca will go for Nico at the end of the day because clubs like Barca often buy players with more bias for expediency due to "other" reasons rather than usefulness/fit.
Lookman for 30m is a good fit in my view, except the age and pace. Even if it is not a Lookman, there are good/capable up and coming talents sprawled all over europe, you only need to look deeper and believe. Desire Doue was open to coming to Barca in the summer of 2024 and even though I know Barca was not bouyant enough to afford him then, a deal could still have been struck. A forward looking club could have agreed ahead of time with Rennes to hold him for another season with a signed commitment that would only be recognised as a liability in the summer of 2025 when the finances would have improved. Unfortunately that opportunity was lost to the Nico obsession.
