A football finance expert has claimed that Manchester United would still love to join a Super League but will not risk another ‘hostile reception’ from supporters.
Last December, a ruling decided the European football governing body had no legal right to block the inception of the Super League, and management company A22 announced plans for a 64-team competition to effectively gazump the Champions League.
United co-chairman Joel Glazer was one of the three figures who endorsed the breakaway league when it was announced in April 2021. After a fierce backlash from supporters, United withdrew from their planned participation, along with the other five Premier League clubs.
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United supporters protested against the Super League more ardently than any other fanbase, forcing the postponement of their May 2021 Premier League home fixture against Liverpool.
Two months ago, United insisted they remain committed to competing in Uefa competitions. However, finance expert Kieran Maguire insists club owners would still love to join the proposed competition.
“There’s no doubt that the owners of Liverpool, Man United and the other sneaky six would love to be in the Super League, but I think they all know from the very hostile reaction of fans that this would not be an acceptable decision,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“I think what we will see is perhaps a Super League which doesn’t involve English clubs to begin with.
“If this has a significant detrimental impact on the value of Uefa’s rights then we will start to see a whisper campaign that clubs cannot afford to not be involved because Real Madrid and Barcelona are.
“It’ll be interesting to see who is going to sign up because I would imagine there’d be a very hostile reaction from German football fans.
“English football fans have clearly voted with their voices and their feet when the first variant of the Super League emerged.“
In the wake of the Super League ruling last December, the British Government reacted by saying it would bring forward legislation to stop English clubs from joining a breakaway competition.
A statement issued by the Department for Media, Culture and Sport read: “The attempt to create a breakaway competition was a defining moment in English football and was universally condemned by fans, clubs and the Government.
“We took decisive action at the time by triggering the fan-led review of football governance, which called for the creation of a new independent regulator for English football.
“We will shortly be bringing forward legislation that makes this a reality, and will stop clubs from joining any similar breakaway competitions in the future.”