Arsene Wenger says a European Super League would destroy the Premier League and he's probably right
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Updated 29/10/2020 at 09:10 GMT
Manchester United and Liverpool are reported to be in talks over the creation of a new $6 billion breakaway tournament that would feature up to 18 clubs from Europe's top five leagues. The founding members are aiming to get the tournament underway in 2022 and Josep Maria Bartomeu, who resigned as Barcelona president on Tuesday, has said the La Liga club had already accepted a proposal to join.
The badges of Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Paris St-Germain and FC Barcelona
Image credit: Getty Images
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said the main reason clubs on the continent are keen to establish a new European Super League is because they cannot compete financially with their rivals in the Premier League.
Wenger, now FIFA's head of global development, said the plans were aimed at eroding the Premier League's "superiority".
"The other leagues tried to destroy the advantage the Premier League has. For them, the best way to tame that is to create a European League," he told the Guardian.
"That means to destroy the Premier League basically."
A Super League would see the top sides in Europe face off more regularly but Wenger said the real beneficiaries would be the club owners.
"We're in a period of owners who are investors," Wenger added.
Their first target is to make more money. And the European Super League is one way, maybe, to make more money.
OUR VIEW - A MATTER OF WHEN NOT IF
A European Super League feels almost inevitable.
Why? Well as Wenger correctly points out, clubs around Europe want to financially consolidate and are aware there would be an appetite around the world for such a competition - particularly amongst a younger, digitally-savvy audience. It is also hard to make a business case that Barcelona vs Real Sociedad would be more economically beneficial than Barcelona vs Manchester United on a Saturday evening in the middle of winter.
National traditions will make way for the sake of entertainment when big money is involved. Even if a new European Super League turned out to be dull and lifeless, increased broadcast revenue would stream through it regardless.
The Premier League has every right to feel threatened, however the collective agreement for big European clubs to pull the trigger in sync may still take a few years.
Additional reporting from Reuters.
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