A revamped European Super League is back on the agenda but English clubs, including Liverpool and Manchester United, might not be so warm to the idea this time around.
More than 50 clubs, according to the Evening Standard, are said to have been consulted by A22 Sports Management, a Madrid-based sports development company.
Under the new terms, between 60 and 80 teams across Europe would take part in a replacement tournament to the UEFA Champions League, often dubbed the world’s most prestigious club competition.
There would be no permanent members, and each club would be guaranteed 14 matches per season, although A22 hasn’t provided any further detail on the divisional structure or how promotion and relegation would be organised.
A22 argued the proposals are necessary as European football needs to be reformed.
Specifically, it noted that football is losing its appeal among younger fans, that the current proposed changes to the Champions League will worsen the situation and that fan access, either live or remotely, is becoming “prohibitively expensive.”
However, Conrad Wiacek, a sports analyst at GlobalData, thinks the new proposal will have difficulty in getting off the ground in the short term, given the backlash faced by clubs nearly two years ago.
The original European Super League proposal was put forward by 12 European clubs in April 2021.
Following intense backlash from fans, the media, and politicians, nine of the original 12 members swiftly backed out of the proposal, including all of the Premier League’s ‘big 6.’
Criticisms of the previous model focused on its ‘closed-shop’ structure, with the 12 founding members free from the threat of relegation, reaping the lucrative financial rewards regardless of on-the-pitch performance.
Wiacek also suggests that the proposal, being pushed by Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona, is not only a direct challenge to the power of UEFA but also the Premier League.
La Liga, Spain’s top division, and the Spanish media have been particularly critical of the spending prowess of the Premier League.
In January alone, Premier League clubs spent a net £720mln on transfers, blowing the previous record of £180mln out of the water, and significantly more than the rest of Europe combined.
Wiacek was shocked that Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, both Manchester teams, and Tottenham originally joined the proposal, but feels they have “realised what the game was.”
As such, Liverpool and Manchester United are unlikely to jump at the opportunity this time around which means their takeovers should continue on their current trajectories.
The spectacular failure of the ESL was pinpointed as one of the reasons for two of England’s biggest clubs being put in the shop window by their respective owners.
The theory goes that Fenway Sports Group in particular, which owns Liverpool, felt that financially they had taken the club as far as possible.
Without the money provided by the Super League, they felt they would not be able to compete with the state-owned powerhouses Manchester City and Newcastle United.
Manchester United are believed to be drumming up interest from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jim Ratcliffe for a proposed takeover.
For Liverpool, there have been less intense rumours, with FSG believed to be open to investment due to the dearth of buyers.