Real Madrid star Toni Kroos has become the first high-profile player to publicly show support for the controversial attempts to relaunch a European Super League.
Another attempt has been made to establish the breakaway league, with A22 Sports Management trying to move on from the disastrous first effort. The rebranded league would contain no permanent members and include between 60 and 80 clubs, with each playing a minimum of 14 games per season.
The idea is being led by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, who are in the midst of a legal battle with UEFA. A22 believes that the existing model of European football is broken and that UEFA holds an unfair monopoly.
Kroos has placed himself squarely behind Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who has been one of the driving forces behind the breakaway idea. The German midfielder believes that many are guilty of dismissing the Super League without considering the potential benefits.
"I think we will see the Super League. And I believe so for several reasons," he said on his podcast, Einfach mal Luppen. "The idea of the Super League has changed and deserves to be heard.
"If you look carefully from both angles, you will see that UEFA is by no means a great Samaritan for football fans and that the Super League has no plans, at least in the second attempt, to exclude any team, because there will be no permanent founding members.
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"It is a sports competition, an open tournament, but managed by the clubs and not by UEFA, because these clubs believe that they do not need UEFA for that. I think this deserves at least one chance."
Kroos went on to compare European football to tennis, which sees the world’s best players facing off much more frequently. He thinks that the average football fan would prefer to see the biggest clubs playing each other more often, rather than the current meritocratic structure.
"Although we have already talked about the loss of passion for football, I believe that the Super League has the opportunity to reverse that situation," he added.
"Let there be more enthusiasm and emotion for the games that we will be able to see. Because in the end, let’s not fool ourselves, many people always say, ‘Who wants to see Real Madrid against Manchester City every week?’ But have you gotten tired of watching [Roger] Federer against [Rafael] Nadal over and over again? I don’t. That’s my opinion.
"I think we can attract the fans and get them back to football, and it could also bring a completely different enthusiasm to the neutral fan. Because these matches are not only watched by the supporters of the clubs, but also by neutral fans.
"And I think that, with the feeling that interest in football is waning, we would have the opportunity to increase all that again if we seriously addressed it."
