Current players, ex-professionals and managers give their reactions to the rebel European Super League, with Bruno Fernandes, Mesut Ozil and Chris Sutton critical of the project
- Graham Potter, Joey Barton and Ander Herrera also revealed their reactions
- Twelve top European teams announced their intention to join breakaway league
- English football’s traditional ‘Big Six’ are six of the 12 in total to have signed up
- Fans, pundits and most across football world have expressed anger in response
Fans and pundits are among the vast majority of the football world to speak out against the proposed European Super League, plans for which were announced on Sunday.
The project for the breakaway competition is widely seen as a cynical money and power grab by the ‘Big Six’ of English football to line their wallets at a time of severe economic hardship.
And several current and former players plus Premier League and EFL managers have added their thoughts to the explosively controversial debate.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes has spoken out against the European Super League
BRUNO FERNANDES, Manchester United midfielder
The Portuguese was the first player from a Super League club to comment. Portugal team-mate Daniel Podence posted on Instagram: ‘The Ball. The Song. The Dream. Zidane’s volley… Kaka’s solo… Liverpool in Athens… There are some things we can’t pay for.’ Bruno replied with clapping emojis and ‘Dreams can’t be buy (bought)’.
CHRIS SUTTON, former Blackburn and Chelsea striker
In 1993, at the age of 20, me and my Norwich team-mates knocked the great Bayern Munich out of the UEFA Cup. We went to the Olympiastadion and won 2-1. What a night. But to set up a closed-shop Super League takes away any possibility of these sorts of occasions.
No Bayern 1 Norwich 2. No Celtic 2 Barcelona 1. No Newcastle 3 Barcelona 2. No Portsmouth 2 AC Milan 2. Arsenal were fortunate to scrape a 1-1 draw with Fulham at the weekend and are distinctly mid-table. But apparently they’re ‘super’? What a load of nonsense.
Ex-Arsenal attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil is another curraent player to reveal his thoughts
JOEY BARTON, Bristol Rovers manager
It will ruin the English pyramid, there’s absolutely no doubt about that. The community aspect of clubs can be lost, certainly when you get into the top flight.
We’ve got to remember what football clubs were set up for and what the purpose of them was. It wasn’t for billionaires from different continents to come in and line their own pockets.
Graham Potter (right) underlined the importance of the consequences of success and failure
GRAHAM POTTER, Brighton manager
Sport is about the consequences of failure and the possibility of success. I can speak on both things in terms of experiencing the concerns of relegation now — and, at the same time, at Ostersunds you always had the dream of Champions League and getting that moment against one of the big teams.
ADRIAN SEDDON, Chair of FC United of Manchester
The Super League proposal feels like a showdown. It doesn’t feel like a bluff. It feels like it’s been years in the making and this either gets called off for another generation or it’s pushed through.
MESUT OZIL, Fenerbahce attacking midfielder
The enjoyment of big games is that they only happen once or twice a year, not every week.
ANDER HERRERA, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder
I fell in love with popular football, with the football of the fans, with the dream of seeing the team of my heart compete against the greatest. If this Super League advances, those dreams are over, the illusions of the fans of teams that are not giants being able to win on the field, competing in the best competitions, will end.
I cannot remain silent on this. I believe in an improved Champions League, not in the rich stealing what the people created.
