European Super League rocked as Premier League clubs withdraw

The football world has been rocked by the news of an impending Super League formation, but which clubs have agreed to participate? 

A new continental format has been put forward to challenge the current UEFA Champions League,  with a total of 20 teams slated to compete in the competition "which is intended to commence as soon as practicable".

Twelve European clubs have been confirmed as participants already, but football's main governing bodies have spoken out in opposition to the proposal, which has been deemed a "cynical" operation by pundits and supporters alike.

Should the competition go ahead, domestic football in England, Spain and Italy could change forever, with a statement from those involved reading: "The Founding Clubs will receive an amount of €3.5 billion solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the Covid pandemic."

Goal  is here to provide you with a rundown of the confirmed list and rumoured members.

Who are the founding Super League clubs & which have withdrawn?

Premier League clubs Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham have all signed up for the Super League, along with Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan from Italy and Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid from Spain.

In a dramatic turn of events, however, all six Premier League sides confirmed their plans to withdraw from the Super League less than 48 hours after the announcement due to the backlash the news received .

A statement released by the Arsenal board on the club’s website said : “The last few days have shown us yet again the depth of feeling our supporters around the world have for this great club and the game we love.

"We needed no reminding of this but the response from supporters in recent days has given us time for further reflection and deep thought."

A Manchester City official statement read : "Manchester City Football Club can confirm that it has formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from the group developing plans for a European Super League."

Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd and Tottenham also issued similar statements.

How this will affect the Super League itself, and whether or not the competition will continue now that six sides have pulled out, still remains to be seen.

It has been reported that a further three teams will join the list of founders ahead of the inaugural season, with a qualifying mechanism set to be put in place for a further five teams to complete the division.

Which clubs are rumoured to be joining the Super League?

No official word has been given on which other clubs are in the running as of yet, but more developments are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

It has already been confirmed that reigning European Champions Bayern Munich, fellow Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund and Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain will not be participating in the Super League, but a number of other top European clubs are reportedly in the running to join the competition.

Porto chiefs revealed that they had been invited to participate, but declined. Club president Pinto da Costa said: "As part of UEFA, we cannot participate in anything that is against the principles and rules of the European Union and UEFA.

"If that goes forward, something that I have a lot of doubts about, UEFA will not end and it is certain that they will continue to have evidence. It must be recognized that the events organized by UEFA are the official events. 

"We are not concerned with being or not, we are in the Champions League and we hope to continue to be for many years."