Champions League: Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli says Premier League may need to reduce number of teams | Football News

Lowering the variety of groups within the Premier League can be one strategy to accommodate an expanded Champions League format, in response to Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli.

The Italian additionally chairs the European Membership Affiliation and gave the physique’s approval to UEFA proposals for a new-look continental competitors to start in 2024 with 36 golf equipment as an alternative of 32.

Underneath the proposal, groups would play 10 matches within the autumn fairly than the present six within the group stage, as a part of a ‘Swiss system’ inside a 36-team league.

Final month, Sky Sports News reported UEFA’s proposals for a ‘Swiss-style’ Champions League from 2024 onwards weren’t challenged by a single affiliation throughout a two-hour assembly.

UEFA hopes the brand new format, which ensures golf equipment extra video games and extra income, will avert the specter of breakaway European Tremendous League.

Agnelli is hopeful an settlement on the brand new format might be reached inside a fortnight.

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The Premier League is known to have issues with the elevated variety of matches contained inside the proposal, however Agnelli recommended 20-team leagues may take a look at a discount in home video games to beat the issue.

“The steadiness we are attempting to strike is one-third worldwide [games] to two-third home,” he mentioned following the ECA’s basic meeting on Monday.

“We have now international locations resembling England with the utmost variety of video games at 53 or 54, Germany is 43. So it is having a balanced aggressive panorama.

“We do assume that presently, for aggressive steadiness functions, 20 groups in leagues – it is not simply the massive leagues, however in lots of leagues – there are too many.

“And so there may be an total ingredient that would really be labored out altogether within the pursuits of everybody.”

Nonetheless, Premier League chief government Richard Masters said last month lowering the variety of groups just isn’t one thing they’re planning on doing any time quickly.

A proposal made final yr – known as ‘Challenge Large Image’- was designed to vary the voting construction of the Premier League and funding fashions for the English Soccer League and Soccer Affiliation.

There have been a number of different main adjustments to the construction of English soccer put ahead, together with a discount from 20 to 18 groups within the Premier League and the scrapping of the EFL Cup and Group Defend.

However talking on the Enterprise of Soccer summit, Masters mentioned: “The English soccer calendar is jam-packed with glorious thrilling soccer. It is one thing you come to alongside the journey.

“In the intervening time and for the foreseeable future, the Premier League is a 20-club competitors.”

Questions stay over allocation of 4 additional locations

Agnelli described the Swiss system – whereby groups don’t play each staff within the league, however groups with differing strengths primarily based on a seeding system – as “lovely”.

He additionally acknowledged one of many key points to beat is entry to the competitors, and particularly how the 4 additional locations needs to be allotted.

The European Leagues group – of which the Premier League is a member – is against the concept of golf equipment qualifying through historic ‘co-efficient’ rankings fairly than efficiency in the newest home season.

It’s holding a membership advisory platform on Wednesday, with all golf equipment invited to attend.

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Agnelli understood the argument of permitting home champions from a broader vary of nations to have entry to the new-look league.

However when requested whether or not a harmful precedent was being set in permitting groups into Europe primarily based on historic efficiency, he added: “Unprecedented occasions can flip into normality.

“Some years in the past it was unprecedented that not simply the champions have been allowed within the Champions Cup, after which it grew to become normality.”

Champions League adjustments may even see some £100m-plus transfers ‘banned’

One function Agnelli additionally revealed is underneath dialogue is the opportunity of banning £100m-plus transfers happening between sides within the revamped Champions League.

The plan would encourage golf equipment to purchase gamers elsewhere within the soccer pyramid and management prices as the sport makes an attempt to get better financially after the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking solely in his position as Juventus chairman, Agnelli mentioned: “We may consider double paths for the switch system, whereby golf equipment qualifying to particular tiers in worldwide competitions would not be allowed to purchase one another’s gamers, so that may really enhance the oblique solidarity in direction of the opposite golf equipment.

“So, no triple-figure transfers amongst Champions League-participating golf equipment. Perhaps we can be focussing too [on] the champion gamers of smaller international locations, so permitting us solely to purchase gamers there, for instance. These are components that we’re discussing.

“Price-control, it is one of many components that gave us the largest complications, and would be the largest challenges, when it comes to reforms going ahead, the place all golf equipment can be significantly centered on within the subsequent set of discussions.”

Among the many transfers that may not be permitted underneath the proposed new guidelines, are Neymar’s £197m transfer from Barcelona to PSG in 2017; Kylian Mbappe becoming a member of Neymar within the French capital from Monaco for £166m the next yr; and Cristiano Ronaldo’s change from Actual Madrid to Juventus for £105m, additionally in 2018.