Barcelona, Real Madrid "moving forward" with European Super League plans

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 02 April 2022

Barca, Real 'moving forward with Super League plans'

Barcelona president Joan Laporta insists that the European Super League will "move forward" as planned, despite the withdrawal of Premier League clubs.

Joan Laporta has insisted that Barcelona and Real Madrid remain ready to "move forward" with plans for a European Super League.

Last April, 12 of European football's biggest clubs revealed plans to play in a break-away league, only for all six Premier League teams involved to withdraw two days later.

While the perception is that the ESL cannot take place with more teams being involved, Barcelona president Laporta claims that the competition will still go ahead as they look to strengthen their financial position in comparison to the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

Speaking to TVE, Laporta said: "It's moving forward. We are promoting the project together with Florentino Perez, with whom I speak often. It is a way to save European football. It is evident that we must fit it into the framework of European football and without destroying the domestic leagues. They are essential for us.

"We cannot allow European football to be in the hands of states that do not belong to the European Union. It is clear that [Manchester] City and PSG have a money-making machine, and we are fighting against that.

"Not only the three clubs that I am talking about, but others who are silent, but in the background they give us their support."

Earlier this week, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi revealed that he had rejected a £340m offer to be part of the competition last year.