MANCHESTER UNITED and Liverpool are reportedly in stunning talks with Fifa about forming a European Premier League made up of 18 teams.
Following their failed Project Big Picture proposal, the two giants of English football have come up with an amazing new plot.
Manchester United chief Ed Woodward is pressing for the creation of a European Premier LeagueCredit: PA:Press Association
Liverpool owner John W. Henry failed in his attempts to get Project Big Picture approvedCredit: PA:Empics Sport
That idea would have seen the Premier League reduced from 20 to 18 teams and the League Cup and Community Shield scrapped.
SunSport revealed last week how United and Liverpool were to ramp up their attempts of a European Super League if their Project Big Picture proposal was knocked back.
And according to Sky News, financiers, thought to be JP Morgan, are assembling a £4.6billion funding package to assist the creation of the European Premier League.
As well as the English sides, four clubs from Italy and Spain are expected to be included, with three clubs from Germany and France.
They would be set to earn hundreds of millions of pounds.
The project would not see clubs ending their involvement in their domestic leagues.
Up to five English clubs are said to be allowed to join, with a provisional start date of 2022 discussed.
Sky have also reported how Fifa have been involved in developing the new format, which would see fixtures being played during the regular season.
The top-placed clubs would then compete in a knockout format to decide the winner of the tournament.
This would effectively usurp the Champions League, which has been the premier continental competition since the European Cup was rebranded in 1992.
It is unclear whether Uefa have backed the proposal but they have been against the idea in the past.
A formal announcement about the plans is expected to be made public by the end of the month.
United and Liverpool’s Premier League rivals Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham have all been approached about joining.
Martin Lipton’s view on European Super League
HERE we go again.
Another plan for a European Super League.
Same as all the other ones. Doomed to go nowhere.
Except, perhaps, this time it REALLY is serious.
The suggestion of a £4.6billion financing package and income of hundreds of millions per club would make even the mist arch cynic raise an eyebrow.
Factor in the reality that Europe’s biggest clubs are almost unanimous in their desire to open the financial floodgates in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis, and the appeal becomes all the greater.
But when you also realise that a new competition would be the ultimate weapon in the bitter war between Fifa and Uefa, it is no wonder that significant sources believe there is a “50-50” chance of the idea becoming reality.
Of course, it might all be an elaborate bluff.
Europe’s football giants know that there is nothing that will make Uefa listen to their complaints more than the prospect of the Champions League becoming a worthless bauble, battled over by the second tier clubs.
Threatening to leave and set up their own competition as soon as 2022 is a power-game move.
It suits the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and PSG to let everyone know they mean it.
Even if they don’t, the fear of it being true will bring Uefa to the table, ready, as they always do, to offer compromises to hold European football together.
And, of course, if they do, if it is for real and if it has the blessing of Fifa boss Gianni Infantino – who has already talked about the concept of a global league as well as his new World Club Cup – we could be on the brink of the most momentous decision in the history of the game.
What is clear is that, just like with Project Big Picture, the big boys are no longer content to play the long game.
They want change. Now. And it has to be change they like.
Or they WILL look to go it alone.
The likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich have also reportedly been approached.
It has also been said that Real president Florentino Perez has been a driving force behind the project.
The proposal is said to have been in the works for over a year, with Fifa president Gianni Infantino speaking to Perez about reforming elements of the game in 2019.
As a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, talks of the shake-up were accelerated.
While Liverpool are leading the charge for the radical shake-up, one of its club legends is less-than impressed.
Jamie Carragher, who now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, tweeted “oh f*** off” when sharing the story on social media.
And his fellow pundit and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville once again demanded an ‘independent regulator’ is appointed as football takes a dramatic turn.
Shaun Custis wants VAR to be scrapped, after yet more controversy in the Premier League
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
