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.
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.
There was little from Tottenham, Chelsea or Arsenal players, although Hector Bellerin did post a poignant quote by Arsene Wenger.
The Liverpool squad united with a shared message of defiance in the face of their owners’ attempts to create the Super League.
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.
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.”
