Former Arsenal and England left-back, Nigel Winterburn, has heavily criticized the proposed breakaway European Super League, dismissing it as a ‘mad’ and ‘sneaky’ initiative that is bound to have serious implications for both the clubs involved and the others outside of it.
Winterburn, 57, who won one Premier League, two FA Cup and one European Cup Winners Cup titles, among other laurels with Arsenal weighed into the ESL saga during an exclusive interview with Gambling.com .
Twelve top European clubs, including seven Premier League sides; Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham have reportedly agreed to participate in the new European Super League. Laliga giants; Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, as well as Serie A trio – Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan, are also in the plan.
“It’s all gone mad really, there’s a lot of anger out there and I can understand why,” Winterburn who is currently BT Sport pundit told Gambling.com.
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“For the moment, I’d prefer to get more clarification, but I have to admit it sounds rather sneaky from where I’m standing.
“I would like to find out a lot more about what is supposedlygoing to happen, because there could be some really big implications for clubs involved and clubs not involved.
“We’ve only really got a brief outline of the format. There’s somany questions people would like answered. At the moment, people are angry because it feels like a money-making machine for the biggest clubs.
The former England international added; “Are the rest of the teams completely excluded or is there any way they can enter in to it? I can’t work out in my head how all ofthis is going to work.
“For me, if this is just about the elite trying to break away ontheir own then, obviously, I would be completely against it.”
“I’d like to know how they picked these 12 teams precisely.
“I know the Champions League has had it’s problems and they’re looking at shaking up the group stages, but at least you have to qualify for the competition. It’s not always the same teams every
year.
“The Super League seems to be the opposite of that, an exclusiveclub almost. So it’s no surprise people are angry about this announcement, but I myself just want more clarification on exactly
what is happening, where it’s going, what we can expect, can any ofthe 12 teams be replaced, that sort of thing.
“It all seems very messy to me. There’s going to be a lot of resistance no matter what the details are though._**
“Fans are already livid and we’ve only really had a snippet of information come out, so we can expect a few more headlines over thecoming weeks.”
