Man City to join Unify League? Keith Wyness drops emphatic verdict
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted Manchester City will not initially commit to joining the Unify League due to their ongoing legal battles.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes Premier League sides are likely to remain quiet about their feelings towards the competition.
A22, the Madrid-based organisers of the original European Super League (ESL), announced on 17 December the competition has changed its name to the Unify League.
The initial ESL plan collapsed within 72 hours of its announcement in April 2021 after several clubs, including Man City, Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, dropped out following widespread criticism.
A22 has claimed the Unify League now favours an “open competition”, with 96 European clubs to be handed the chance to take part across four leagues.
Man City unlikely to commit to Unify League
Wyness believes there won’t be a rush from clubs to join the competition.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I think the Premier League clubs are going to be pretty quiet.
“Man City aren’t going to say anything right now while they have got so many other things going on.
“I think the fans may push the clubs to make statements.
“The clubs will probably say something like ‘We are examining all possibilities, but we are aware of the heritage of the club and we would never do anything to damage the heritage of football’.
“They will probably come out with some bland statement because they will want to keep their options open.
“They will want to negotiate with all the football bodies.
“I understand that because I would be doing exactly the same.
“But I don’t think there is going to be any stampede to try and do this.
“I think there would be enough clubs that would say no to basically kill it at birth.”
In other news, Man City accelerate plan to sign Bruno Guimaraes.
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