MANCHESTER City will push for a cull of the League Cup to help cut the number of games for the Etihad outfit.
Pep Guardiola’s Carabao Cup holders have won the competition three years in a row and face Arsenal in a December quarter-final.
Man City were victorious against Aston Villa in the EFL Cup final earlier this yearCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
But despite their stunning success – with City having lifted the trophy five times in the past seven years – chief executive Ferran Soriano suggested it might be a necessary casualty if football is to move forward.
And he signalled that a fundamental realignment of the entire English football pyramid is required for it to become “sustainable”.
Soriano said: “There is a real problem of too many games being played by the clubs in the Premier League.
“There are ways to cut this. Some games need to be played to generate the fans and revenue for the whole football pyramid.
“But other games don’t add value and put the players at risk.
“The welfare of the players was a problem before Covid. Now it’s an extreme problem.”
Soriano, speaking at LeadersWeek.direct, added: “The English pyramid has significant problems and challenges.
“Traditionally, changing a football pyramid anywhere in the world is challenging.
Pep Guardiola always takes the domestic cups seriously, and faces a quarter-final in the Carabao Cup against Arsenal in DecemberCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
“But there were problems in the past that are more evident now.
“One of the challenges is the EFL, the Championship, a business that is not sustainable.
“They were discussing salary caps and now they have been nudged, almost pushed, to solve the existing problems because of the crisis.
“It is a lot of water coming down on them and now even more problems have arrived.
“This is a good opportunity for the different elements of the football business to get together and solve these problems.”
Pep Guardiola told by Richard Keys to bring in Sam Allardyce to sort out Man City defence after 1-1 draw vs Leeds
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
