‘OK, bye’: Premier League players react to European Super League’s collapse
Premier League players celebrated the demise of the European Super League after six English clubs withdraw from the competition less than 48 hours after its announcement, bringing the entire project to its knees.
Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has now admitted the project is effectively dead without Premier League input, while Atletico and Inter have become the latest clubs to flee the sinking ship.
Raheem Sterling was one of the highest profile players to speak out, with a simple “OK, bye” to the Super League, a competition which his club Manchester City signed up to, but about which his manager Pep Guardiola made clear on Tuesday the squad were left totally in the dark.
Ok bye 👋🏾
— Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) April 20, 2021
His City teammates also got involved, with Aymeric Laporte poking fun at his own fans who were suspiciously quick to respond, before celebrating his club’s exit announcement soon afterwards.
Football is for the the fans pic.twitter.com/0ynvMncsWD
— Kyle Walker (@kylewalker2) April 20, 2021
(all the people commenting this with "yesss waporte" after less than 30 seconds are liars btw 😂)
— Aymeric Laporte (@Laporte) April 20, 2021
That was quick lol
— Aymeric Laporte (@Laporte) April 20, 2021
what a beautiful day for football 😍❤️ let's keep playing, let's keep fighting, let's keep dreaming. That's the very first reason why we do this !! ⚽️ #supergone 👋🏿
— Benjamin Mendy (@benmendy23) April 20, 2021
— Kevin De Bruyne (@DeBruyneKev) April 20, 2021
There was little from Tottenham, Chelsea or Arsenal players, although Hector Bellerin did post a poignant quote by Arsene Wenger.
— Héctor Bellerín (@HectorBellerin) April 20, 2021
The Liverpool squad united with a shared message of defiance in the face of their owners’ attempts to create the Super League.
— Jordan Henderson (@JHenderson) April 20, 2021
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire had his slightly bland say, while his United and England teammate Luke Shaw posted an emotional statement and Marcus Rashford went with a famous Sir Matt Busby quote which generated more than half a million likes on Twitter.
Let’s all stay UNITED 🔴⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/9Uap5eNTUu
— Harry Maguire (@HarryMaguire93) April 21, 2021
— Luke Shaw (@LukeShaw23) April 20, 2021
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) April 20, 2021
And there were other references on social media from Premier League players, with their feelings perhaps captured best by Sheffield United’s John Egan: “The love of the game will always prevail.”
Football in this country will always be the biggest sporting institution in the world. I’ve played in all 4 divisions and no matter which club I have represented I have always seen how passionate THE FANS are here. The love of the game will always prevail. 👏⚽️💚
— John Egan (@JohnEgan92) April 20, 2021
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