It is safe to say that the world of football has been shaken to its core over the past 24 hours after it emerged that 12 of the biggest clubs in the world, including Manchester United, were planning to create the European Super League.
What will this mean for the game of football as a whole? We do not know yet. Neither do we know how the governing bodies will respond. But there are fears that these clubs could be left out of their respective leagues and the players could be banned from playing for their national teams.
Also, what will this mean for the Champions League? The European Super League appears to be a midweek competition, which suggests that there is no way these clubs could compete in both the competitions at the same time.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager in the history of the club, does not appear to be a big fan of the changes that it would bring either. As reported by The Sun, he told Reuters:
"“Talk of a Super League is a move away from 70 years of European club football.“Both as a player for a provincial team Dunfermline in the 60s and as a manager at Aberdeen winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup, for a small provincial club in Scotland it was like climbing Mount Everest.“Everton are spending £500million to build a new stadium with the ambition to play in Champions League.“Fans all over love the competition as it is. In my time at United, we played in four Champions League finals and they were always the most special of nights.”"
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What effect will the Super League have on Manchester United and football as a whole?
It is safe to say that there is a lot of confusion surrounding the entire situation at this point of time and none of us know what the future holds for either Manchester United or the game of football as a whole.
But one thing is for sure, this will create a further divide between the ‘elite’ teams and the others because of the incredible financial incentive of playing in the European Super League and its ‘closed’ nature where there will be no relegation for the founding members.
This could very well change the game of football forever if it goes through. And from the initial reaction of fans across the world, it does look like the idea of the European Super League has failed to capture the imagination of the supporters.