UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has suggested Manchester United and Liverpool were the English clubs most involved in the controversial European Super League proposals in 2021.
Almost two years ago, 12 of Europe’s top clubs signalled their intention to set up a European Super League.
Manchester United, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan all signed up to the project before fierce opposition from governing bodies, fans and even governments helped shut down the proposals just 48 hours after the initial plans were announced.
Ceferin, speaking in an interview on The Overlap with Sky Sports‘ Gary Neville, reveals that Man Utd and Liverpool were “the most involved” and that he “lost it” with an official from an unnamed English club, while he also claimed Man City and Chelsea were not as committed when it came to joining the breakaway competition.
“As much as I know, unfortunately your club’s [United’s] owners were very much involved and Liverpool as well,” he told The Overlap.
Manchester United fans hung banners and scarves on the Trinity Statue outside Old Trafford as they protested against the ESL plans
“I think that those two were from the English side the most involved [in the Super League]. The last to join were Chelsea and Manchester City. I’m not sure about Tottenham and Arsenal.
“When I arrived in Switzerland, I got a phone call from one of the English clubs saying that we’ll have to join this project. They didn’t like it but didn’t want to be the only ones out. Two clubs were hesitating in England very much, they said they wanted to stay friends with us, our friends from within.
Liverpool supporters hung banners outside Anfield after the announcement of the ESL plans
“Both Chelsea and Manchester City were hesitant from the beginning, and it was one of these teams that called me.”
“I had a phone call from one of the English clubs, I will not say which. I lost it a bit and said, ‘You go to hell. From tomorrow, you are my enemies. I don’t want to speak to you anymore’. It was tough.”
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Jamie Carragher says the Premier League is the defacto Super League and teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus don’t like that they are being left behind financially
Meanwhile, Ceferin also spoke about the deemed financial strength of the Premier League compared to Europe’s other domestic leagues, but the UEFA president praised the English top-flight, suggesting Europe’s other leagues need to catch up.
He added: “I am not worried about that.
“I think the Premier League is doing a good job and the other leagues should do a better job.”
