Barcelona club president Joan Laporta has received another blow in his support for the European Super League (ESL).
The project remains on the agenda for Laporta with the La Blaugrana chief open to signing the club up to a reformatted competition in the coming years.
Laporta has confirmed his intention to keep Barcelona in the ESL conversation alongside El Clasico rivals Real Madrid.
The refusal of Premier League clubs and other European superpowers to join has not dented his confidence over a version of the ESL eventually forming.
Laporta claimed other clubs would be approached over possible membership with the list including teams from across the continent.
“Inter Milan, Napoli AS Roma; any team in the Spanish league (can join) except for Atletico Madrid, who have another position”, as per quotes from Cadena SER.
“Olympique Marseille; the three Portuguese teams Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and Porto; the three Dutch teams, Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV and the two Belgian ones, Anderlecht and Club Brugge.”
Despite Laporta reeling off names of teams that could be involved in the new A22-backed plans, his optimism has been rejected by the majority of names involved, in another blow for the ESL.
“The club states it has never reviewed its position on the matter, nor has it maintained dialogues to embark on a different path than through the ECA”, via an official statement from AS Roma.
Similar reports have emerged from France and the Netherlands, to reject involvement for Marseille and Ajax, with English teams committed to remaining inside the current UEFA/ECA model.
