ELITE CLUBS IN TALKS TO JOIN NEW ‘EUROPEAN PREMIER LEAGUE’

More than a dozen big clubs from across Europe in talks to become foundation members of a potential new competition called the ‘European Premier League’, which could end up usurping the Champions League as the elite European club tournament.

Thought to be among those in talks, Manchester United and Liverpool were the two clubs behind the heavily criticised and recently dismissed ‘Project Big Picture’ in England, which sought to reduce the size of Premier League, handing more power to the country’s biggest teams and providing a financial bailout for sides lower down the league pyramid.

Sky News has revealed that financiers are currently attempting to arrange a funding package worth an eye-watering £4.6bn, with prize money for the winners of the new breakaway competition potentially worth hundreds of millions every season.

It is said that up to 18 teams would compete each year, with fixtures played during the European season. The league format would then give way to a final playoffs-style knockout tournament to determine the overall winner.

It appears to be the closest step towards the breakaway European super league that has been rumoured on and off for years. Nothing, however, is confirmed as of yet.

It would not end participation in existing domestic leagues – Manchester United and Liverpool would continue to play in English Premier League, for example, but it could kill off the Champions League.