Real Madrid president Florentino Perez believes he has every angle covered where the European Super League is concerned.
Speaking to El Chiringuito, Perez was asked whether expulsion from the Champions League was a realistic possibility for Los Blancos.
"It won't happen, the law protects us. This is impossible."
Time will tell over whether that is misguided confidence or genuine belief that those signed up to the Super League won’t be imminently banned from the competition.
Much has already been written about the consequences of the decision to join the ESL and what it means for those loyal supporters who have grown up following their team.
And it’s evident that the supporters are the people who will be predominantly affected by the news, much to the disregard of the billionaire owners of each team.
But spare a thought for the employees of Arsenal Football Club right now, many of whom had no idea about the decision their employer had taken until late on Sunday evening.
football.london understands that the bulk of the first team squad learnt the news on Monday morning, with further reports claiming that chief executive Vinai Venkatesham spoke to the first team staff about what it would mean for them and why the club had taken the decision to join.
However, football.london spoke with a member of the Arsenal first team squad on Monday evening who “had no idea” about the Super League and could not believe the potential ramifications being talked about by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who suggested players could be banned from featuring at the World Cup and European Championships.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was twice asked about the European Super League in his post-match press conference after the 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday. The Spaniard said he “knew nothing” about it and football.london understands neither the manager or players were consulted at any stage of the process towards joining the Super League.
That won’t come as a surprise to many, with employers rarely consulting their employees over business decisions – but this particular chapter in Arsenal’s history is one that many fans have vowed to reject.
Arteta has been speaking eloquently in recent weeks about why he won’t prioritise one competition over another, but has targeted winning the Europa League as Arsenal's pathway into the Champions League next season.
“Putting our eggs in one basket would be a big mistake.
“I love that phrase. My dad has always told me that since I was 15 years old. We cannot do that.
“The League is really important — there are a lot of points to play for and there have been a lot of changes in recent weeks in terms of the table.
“We want to be involved right up until the last match and the way to do it is to put a run together ourselves,”
Champions League qualification through the Premier League is near enough impossible as the Gunners are nine behind fourth-placed West Ham with six games to play.
UEFA chief Ceferin has said he will now consider throwing Arsenal, Chelsea and anyone else involved out of UEFA competitions 'as soon as possible'.
"We're still assessing with our legal team but we will take all the sanctions that we can and we will inform you as soon we can," Ceferin said after a UEFA conference on Monday morning
"My opinion is that as soon as possible they have to be banned from all our competitions and the players from all our competitions."
Ceferin has confirmed legal action over whether to ban players from other competitions will start on Tuesday.
While both the manager and players would feel deeply hurt at their hard work they have put in over the past six months being undone by the venture capitalists above them, the only realistic consequence of going against UEFA regulations would be to remove them from the competition.
Those at the helm of the footballing authorities have game-changing decisions to make within the next few hours as the football world and Arsenal fans wait with bated breath.
