Developed at Athletic Bilbao's academy , he has made over first-team appearances for the club, including a La Liga record of consecutive games. Born in Spain to Ghanaian parents, Williams made his full debut for the Spain national team in In , he chose to represent Ghana at international level, being selected for the World Cup as well as the Africa Cup of Nations.
His younger brother Nico also plays for Athletic Bilbao, and for Spain. Born in Bilbao , Biscay to Ghanaian parents who reached Spain by crossing the Sahara on foot and jumping the Melilla border fence , [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 3 ] Williams spent most of his childhood living in Pamplona , [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 5 ] specifically the Rochapea [ es ] neighbourhood, [ 8 ] [ 9 ] and was playing youth football with local club CD Pamplona when he was spotted by Athletic Bilbao , who signed him to their youth setup at Lezama at the age of At the start of β15 , Williams scored a hat-trick for Bilbao Athletic in a 4β0 win against Amorebieta , [ 16 ] and followed this on 7 September with another treble in a 5β1 win over Leioa.
On 17 May , Williams scored his first goal in the top flight, netting a last-minute winner in a 3β2 away victory over Elche to help Athletic come from being behind 2β0. Williams scored a brace before giving away a penalty in a 3β1 win away to Betis , on 1 November On 17 April , after starting against Celta , Williams passed the six-year mark since he last missed a league match for the club, and extended his own Spanish top-flight record of consecutive games to In January , having been on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations , Williams made the journey back to Bilbao from Abidjan immediately after Ghana's early elimination from the tournament at the group stage was confirmed.
On 24 May , Athletic manager Ernesto Valverde reported that Williams had unknowingly spent the past two years of his footballing career playing with a two-centimetre long shard of glass in his foot. On 20 March , Williams received his first international call-up, being named in Albert Celades ' Spain under squad for friendlies with Norway and Belarus.
On 12 October , Williams debuted for the Basque representative side , playing the full 90 minutes of a 4β2 win over Venezuela at the Mendizorrotza Stadium. Around the time of his Spain debut in , Williams was also coveted by the Ghana national team , being watched by their Spanish scout Gerard Nus. But I wasn't born or raised there, my culture's here, and there are players for whom it would mean more.
