Real Sociedad wanted to sign Iñaki Williams before he joined Athletic

Before Iñaki Williams joined Athletic, Real Sociedad had wanted to sign him. Félix Tainta, who recounted the story behind his arrival in a podcast, also named Zaragoza and Osasuna among the clubs interested in the young player.

“At the time, three clubs wanted him: Real Sociedad, Zaragoza and Osasuna,” Tainta said on Los Fulanos. He recalled that Iñaki was playing for Club Natación and might have gone to Osasuna, since Natación was part of a private organisation that worked with Osasuna. But, in Tainta’s account, that possibility did not materialise: “they didn’t call him.”

Williams then moved to Pamplona, where Tainta entered the picture. The representative described a player who, as a cadet, was already going to Lezama to train because Pamplona was affiliated with Athletic. “That’s when Osasuna, Real and others came into it,” he said.

Athletic, however, had doubts about signing him. Tainta saw Iñaki as “a rough diamond”, quick and driven by a strong desire to succeed. He believed Lezama, Tajonar or Zubieta could provide the coaching needed to develop him. According to the representative, Williams scored 34 goals in his first season in Juvenil de Honor before taking off.

Tainta also described what he considered the player’s limitations at the time: exceptional pace, but technical shortcomings. Pamplona, he said, lacked the resources to help him make the next step. “He just needed a good academy to teach him, and resources,” he said of Williams’s arrival at Lezama.

The representative also pointed to the progress Williams had made, saying he had reached 517 appearances and gone six consecutive years without an injury. “That’s stratospheric,” he said, before adding: “He’s my son.”