The European Super League organisers have taken the next step towards launching a new version of the project which failed to to materialise two-years ago.
In an announcement by A22 — a Madrid-based company formed to assist the erection of the ESL — in several newspapers across Europe, they revealed that they want to recreate a new variation of controversial competition. Their declaration has coincided with the ongoing battle between the three remaining ESL supporting clubs Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus with UEFA.
It's said that A22 have already held 'detailed conversations' with European clubs about the growing financial issues that they may have faced recently. The Premier League have faced growing criticism for its growing financial power in the transfer market, with Chelsea's signing of Enzo Fernandez (£106.7million) costing almost as much as the total spend of La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A combined (£115.5m) in January.
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But, the Blues were not the only culprits of spending big last month with Southampton throwing their weight around too. The Saints, who are in a relegation battle, spent around the same as all 40 top-flight Spanish and Italian clubs put together.
According to The Telegraph, there has been no breakthrough as to how the participating teams would be inducted into, or dropped out of, the ESL. The report states that the new ESL plans have been kept 'a secret' by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.
There has been lots of controversy regarding the proposed league, with Los Blancos president Florentino Perez arguing that it would provide greater financial security for clubs who do no participate in European competitions. Whereas on the other hand, Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, is very much against the ESL.
In a tweet less than a few hours after A22's announcement, he wrote: "The Super League is the wolf, who today disguises himself as a granny to try to fool European football, but his nose and his teeth are very big. Four divisions in Europe? Of course the [top division] for them [the founding clubs], as in the 2019 plan. Governance of the clubs? Of course only from the big ones."
But, what does this all mean for Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur? football.london has taken a look.
What are the basic proposals?
A multi-division competition, with 60 to 80 teams who play a minimum of 14 games a season in place of UEFA's current club competitions. There will be no permanent members but it remains to be seen how clubs would be inducted into, or dropped out of, the leagues.
Would they still be able to compete in the Premier League?
In theory, yes but there has been plenty of push-back by the Premier League — as well as Europe's other top-flight leagues. There have also been threats by UEFA to have any club which joins the ESL thrown out of their domestic competition.
Would they still be able to compete in UEFA's club competitions?
No. Clubs joining the ESL would be essentially breaking away from UEFA’s club competitions — Champions League, Europa League and the Conference League — to compete in this 'exclusive' league.
What are UEFA doing to respond?
UEFA are launching the 'Swiss-model' in the Champions League after 2024. And, it's Europe's biggest clubs — apart from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus — who have helped shape this new format.
From 2024/25, UEFA will increase the number of competing sides in the Champions league-proper to 32 to 36. The 'Swiss-model' involves every team playing in a single league instead of a standard group stage, with a guarantee of at least 10 games apiece.
Two of the four new spots up for grabs will be handed to teams with the best historical performance who finished outside the Champions League spots in their domestic league the previous season. The third to another to the fifth best-performing league in Europe and one to the ‘Champions’ pathway in qualification.
This could mean that as many as two extra slots could go to teams from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A or the Bundesliga, or any other European nation. Long story short, the new ruling could hand Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham significant security in their Champions League endeavours.
But, it must be said that the Champions League as we know looks to transform into something similar to the ESL anyway, just this time with a shiny sticker on the front.
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