Arsenal is "determined to be at the heart of discussions about a possible European Super League" but insisted that it will not turn its back on the Premier League, according to Gary Jacob of the LONDON TIMES. It is "the first big English club to admit to being involved in secret talks about a breakaway format" in '16 that would have included the top clubs in Europe and would have replaced the Champions League from '21. The plan was revealed in documents released by Der Spiegel. Chelsea, Liverpool, ManU, Man City and Arsenal were among the 11 founder members named that would be guaranteed to be part of the league for the first 20 years. While the plan never materialized, Arsenal Dir of Football Raul Sanllehi "did not rule out the possibility of a Super League in the future" but said that he "did not believe it would happen in the short term." He said, "We need to make sure Arsenal is always in any driving seat of anything that may happen. We need to at least be aware and decide in a responsible way whether that is the direction to take or not. We need to be there." Arsenal was represented at the breakaway talks by then-CEO Ivan Gazidis, according to Sanllehi, who was then a Barcelona exec and "heavily involved in the concept" (LONDON TIMES, 11/17). In London, Luke Brown reported Sanllehi claimed that "nobody at Arsenal saw the document" leaked by Der Spiegel, while maintaining that there was "nothing secret" about the initial negotiations. Sanllehi said, "The way it was explained may have seemed as though we were doing secret things, but there is nothing secret. The document presented in that article has Arsenal’s name, it also has Barcelona’s. But there is no signature and I can assure you that at Arsenal and Barcelona we did not see the document" (INDEPENDENT, 11/17).
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: In London, Tom Morgan reported Man City is facing a one-year transfer ban from FIFA over the signing of eight players younger than 18 from overseas, according to the latest batch in the Football Leaks series. Man City is the second EPL club after Chelsea to "face detailed allegations of paying the families of youth players." FIFA investigators are calling for Man City to be banned from making any signings for two transfer windows, according to Danish newspaper Politiken. Relatives of Belgian defender Mathias Bossaerts were said to have been paid £190,000 by Man City. Documents in the hands of the European Investigative Collaborations show the club was willing to pay £10,000 relocation costs to the family of a young boy who was still playing U8 football (TELEGRAPH, 11/16).
