Chelsea’s Potter: I won’t back Super League even if club are involved in new plans

Chelsea manager Graham Potter has said his position on plans for a European Super League (ESL) will not change even if the club are involved in the proposed breakaway competition.

A22 Sports Management, a company formed to sponsor and assist in the creation of the ESL said on Thursday that revamped plans for the league could see “60-80 clubs” involved.

As Brighton boss, Potter hit out at the proposed ESL plans in April 2021, saying they were “sad, disturbing and frustrating,” and he said on Friday his position remains the same.

“My position hasn’t changed in terms of I think it’s the Premier League, it’s the Champions League, wherever you are you should get there on sporting merit,” he told a news conference on Friday. “That’s my position still.”

Chelsea were among 12 clubs involved in the initial plans for the breakaway league, but, alongside nine others, pulled out within 48 hours as the move collapsed.

When asked whether his stance would have to change if Chelsea were to be involved in the new plans, Potter said: “[It’s] hard to answer hypothetical questions but I don’t think so. I think my position is my position and that’s it.”

Various governing bodies condemned the revamped plan proposed by A22, with the European Club Association saying the “rehashed” idea was “proposed, discussed and comprehensively rejected by all stakeholders in 2019.”

LaLiga also responded by saying it’s the latest attempt by “big clubs to hijack European football.”

Chelsea are ninth in the Premier League table and face West Ham United in a London derby on Saturday.