Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has reiterated his support for the idea of a European Super League, claiming that the initiative will "save football".
The 74-year-old is due to become the competition's first chairman after the 12 founding members confirmed their involvement on Sunday evening, but the move has been condemned by fans, pundits, managers and players alike.
Participating clubs are set to pocket up to a staggering £310m at a time where finances have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and Perez insists that the European Super League will help teams keep their heads above water.
Speaking to El Chiringuito, Perez said: "Many important clubs in Spain, Italy and UK want to find a solution to a very bad financial situation.
"The only way is to play more competitive games. If instead of playing the Champions League, Super League helps the clubs to recover the lost earnings.
"Here at Real Madrid we've lost a lot of money, we are all going through a very bad situation. When there is no profit, the only way is to play more competitive games during the week.
"The Super League will save the clubs financially. Football must evolve like everything in life. Football has to adapt to the times we live in now.
"Football is losing interest, TV rights are decreasing. We wanted to do the Super League, the pandemic has given us urgency: now we are all ruined in football.
"The attractive thing in football is playing between big clubs, the value for television increases and more income is generated. It's not just the rich who want the Super League, we're doing it to save football because it's at a critical moment.
"It will become like a pyramid because we big clubs will have more money and we will be able to invest it by buying players... if the big clubs lose their money as is happening, the whole football system crashes as with the Champions League."
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has already outlined his plans to see players from the ESL clubs banned from representing their nations in international tournaments.
Ben Knapton
