The genesis of a European Super League is still to take hold in terms of getting the great and the good of European football interested, notwithstanding that the continent’s two biggest teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona, still remain part of the original breakaway group.
What a Super League would look like has changed drastically since 2021 when, in the space of 48 hours, the league was announced then denounced as one by one, the majority of clubs that had signed up for it, distanced themselves from it.
That status quo remains the same for many, and most have already taken to social media or their official websites to say that they have no interest in forming a Super League now or in the future.
Former super agent and Premier League co-creator, Jon Smith, believes it’s only a matter of time before a Super League will be part of the European football calendar, however.
“Football regulation says that no government should be involved in it, but UEFA went straight to the British government and asked them for their support in facing down the Super League threat,” he said in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.
“A lot of the footballing authorities and associations will also come out and say there’s no need for change and we don’t want money people running the game.
“However, I had a conversation on CaughtOffside last month whereby if Saudi Arabia goes to UEFA or FIFA and says ‘here’s a sum of money that you can only get on planet Mars, we want to be involved – and by the way, part of this is that we’d like to create some sort of evolution of our league or sponsorship of a new league,’ that’s where I think the Super League then becomes tenable.
“For example, nobody wants the Club World Cup except FIFA, and that’s potentially where a Super League could fit in our crowded calendar. Whether those within the game like it or not, we are in a Super League ‘gestation period’ at the moment where there will be conversations.
“Saudi have to get their act together and pull in the crowds in order to get the right marketing, which is probably 3-5 years away, but let’s have this conversation again in five years time and I think we’ll be heading down that Super League road in some shape or form.”
The march of Saudi Arabia as a genuine player in world football might be unpalatable for some, but there’s little denying that as time goes by they will become a real force in the game.
When they put their money where their mouth is, it will be interesting to see which clubs are then willing to turn down the vast riches available.