Manchester United have expressed opposition to any notion of a breakaway from either the Premier League or Champions League, following claims a European Super League summit involving executives from English top-flight sides took place on Tuesday.
According to The Sun, top officials from United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City met with US Billionaire Stephen Ross this week to discuss plans for a European Super League.
The Miami Dolphins owner was said to have invited the ‘big five’s’ chief executives to London’s Dorchester Hotel to hold the meeting.
United, however, have now denied that there were any specific proposals to establish a new European competition, reports The Times.
Other clubs, such as Chelsea, have since also denied the meeting was to discuss a breakaway league.
The Times say Ross was not, in fact, present and that talks were wide-ranging. It is more likely the meeting involved discussions over International Champions Cup, a friendly off-season tournament, organised by Ross in 2014, that takes place annually in America.
United won the competition back in 2014.
The Sun had indicated that if the European Super League was to ever to come to fruition it would have hugely detrimental effects to both the Premier League and Champions League.
The big five clubs in England would no longer have to go through the rigorous demands of reaching the top four in England’s top division to pit their wits against the best teams in Europe.
United, the Premier League’s richest club according to Deloitte’s most recent money league table, are currently struggling to secure Champions League football for next season. They are currently fifth in the table, three points behind Manchester City, who have a game in hand on the Red Devils.
Liverpool, too, have struggled to break into the top four in recent years, so some may think this mooted Super League could be even beneficial to the club and their fans to see them take on the best in Europe at no cost.
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