Football’s evolution: European super league and Fifa’s ‘Project Trophy’

Outgoing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes the next step of football’s “evolution” will be the launch of a new European super league.

Wenger, who leaves the Gunners this summer after 22 years in charge, predicts that a competition between Europe’s biggest clubs will see the Premier League played during midweek and a new competition played on weekends.

He told The Times: “In a few years you will have a European league over the weekends. A domestic league will play Tuesday-Wednesday. That is the next step. It will happen and it will be soon because it is a way for other clubs to fight against the Premier League.”

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The Frenchman also said that a European league was “inevitable”, the Times reports. He also said that if the Premier League was to be more “attractive” this could mean fewer teams. Shared TV revenues between the top and lower clubs has caused concern and could drive the formation of a new tournament in Europe.

“It is inevitable,” said Wenger. “Why? First of all, to share money between the big clubs and small clubs will become a problem. Why? Because the big clubs will say that if two smaller clubs are playing each other nobody wants to watch it. People want to watch quality. So we have to share the money but nobody is interested in you?

“If you want to make it [Premier League] more attractive you have to go down to 16 and make a real competition of it. It will be smaller if it [the big teams] goes to Europe.”

Project Trophy: Fifa holds ‘secret talks’ with major clubs

The Sun reports that Fifa is planning to rival Uefa’s Champions League by launching a new world club championship.

According to the paper, football’s global governing body has held “secret meetings” with seven major clubs including Manchester City and Manchester United.

The New York Times says that City and United were joined in the Fifa meeting by European rivals Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Fifa’s plans for a new multi-billion competition have a code name of “Project Trophy”.

Fifa is aiming to “rake in more money after falling behind rivals Uefa” in terms of football revenues, the Sun adds. Last month it was reported that Fifa president Gianni Infantino wanted to “revitalise” the Club World Cup.