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Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano says the English Football League was not a sustainable business even before the coronavirus crisis and suggests now is the time to consider a restructuring, including the introduction of B teams.
Many EFL clubs are reeling financially after the pandemic forced stadiums to close to fans in March, and the prospect of their return looks bleak amid a growing number of cases across the country this month.
EFL clubs voted against the structural reform that would have made it easier for Premier League “B” teams in their divisions in 2016, but B teams have since entered the EFL Cup, while young players from the higher level can gain experience and development through the loan. system.
But Sorriano, speaking at the sports business conference Leaders WeekHe said: “One of the challenges is that the EFL (is) a business that is not sustainable enough.
“They were discussing ways to improve it, they were discussing salary caps. Now they were a kind of nudge, almost pushed, to solve the existing problems due to the crisis. It is a good opportunity for the different elements of the football business to come together.” and solve these problems.
“There are other problems; the challenges of developing players in England where B teams are not allowed, we have a development gap of guys who are 17 or 18 years old, they don’t find the right place to develop and, for example, they are taken away from us. German teams, who are trying to sell them to us for a price 10 times higher than what they paid.
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“This is crazy, right? This is something we had to solve and now maybe the crisis will give us the opportunity and push us to come together and solve these problems.”
In response to Soriano’s comments, the hashtag #bteamboycott started trending on Twitter, and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Rep. Jonathan Reynolds, said: “This is an absolute no on my part. The depth and competitiveness of the soccer league is a huge force. The B teams would ruin everything. “
Soriano said that the number of matches played in the English professional game should also be looked at, and that he was “extremely disappointed” by the Premier League’s decision to revert to three substitutes for the 2020/21 season rather than continue with. five.
“It was a no-brainer, especially now that we are playing so many games,” he said, after five substitutes were allowed when the 2019/20 season restarted in the summer.
“There was a discussion about a competitive balance problem, which ended with the Premier League as the only major league that does not allow five substitutions. That is an example of something going wrong in my opinion.”
Soriano defended his club’s spending in the summer window, which included the arrival of defenders Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias for a reported fee of more than £ 100 million combined.
Ruben Dias on his Manchester City debut against Leeds
“Ultimately, if you believe like we do that Covid is just a period of time and that we have to continue our business, then we have to continue our business,” he said.
“We believe that the income will return. The team is the engine of our business; if we do not play football well, we have nothing to do. We cannot deny that, we cannot help it.”
“We have to take some risks and we believe that the risks we have taken are very well measured.
“I know the media only portray gross spending on players, but you have to look at net spending. We sold a player to Bayern Munich, Leroy Sane, for € 49 million. Then we signed a player, Ferran Torres, for € 23 million. of euros”.
“Sometimes these things are out of context. But remember, we have to keep playing good football and if we need a central defender, we need a central defender.”
The EFL declined to comment when contacted by Sky Sports News.
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