Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos anticipates plans for a European Super League will be revived, as he refuted claims of the Premier League's superiority.
Madrid president Florentino Perez has led calls for Europe's elite clubs to secede from UEFA competitions and was the driving force behind last year's proposed breakaway competition.
While most of the Super League's slated participants withdrew following public and political pressure in April 2021, Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus have remained committed to the project.
In June, Perez branded UEFA's control over the continental game a "monopoly" and declared the Super League was "still alive", and Kroos supports the president's plans.
Speaking on the podcast OMR, Kroos said: "Never contradict your own president!"
"It is obvious that the idea existed and still exists. It should have been in operation for a long time, I think it will take a while to carry it out and I will probably not see it as an active player.
"My opinion on that is that I still believe it will come, but I can't say when."
Kroos, who has won four Champions League titles since leaving Bayern Munich for Madrid in 2014, also professed his desire to stay with Los Blancos.
"I've been at Real Madrid for eight years and there was closeness from day one," he said of his relationship with Madrid president Perez.
"I know that in these eight years he hasn't thought for a second about selling me. At that time, I came for 'only' €25million, surely I could have been sold later for more money.
"I have an excellent relationship with the club, I've grown very fond of it. The president, the team, the fans... so I won't leave."
It has been suggested the Premier League has developed into a quasi-Super League, with English top-flight clubs spending an estimated £2billion on transfers during the recent window.
But Kroos, who helped Madrid beat Liverpool to claim their 14th European crown in May, says English clubs' shortcomings on the continental front prove that is not the case.
"The Premier League has not won an international title this year," Kroos added. "Television money has been significantly higher in England for years and yet it hasn't resulted in English teams winning everything.
"Thank god not all players look only at salary, but also at winning."
Madrid begin their Champions League title defence when they face Celtic on Tuesday.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Ancelotti pleased with 'influential' Mbappe despite LaLiga goal drought
Carlo Ancelotti has said he is pleased with the start Kylian Mbappe has made at Real Madrid, despite the fact he has not yet scored a league goal.
Mbappe joined Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain in June and scored in their 2-0 victory over Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup but three weeks on, has yet to open his account in the league.
The 25-year-old has taken eight shots so far, five of which have been on target, missing some presentable chances, although his manager is not worried.
“(Mbappe) is playing very well even if he hasn’t scored yet. His influence creates danger,” said Ancelotti ahead of their clash with Real Betis this Sunday.
“For me (Vinicius Jr. and Mbappe) are teaming up well, the offensive work is being done very well. It hasn’t been a problem because we’ve scored goals in every game.
“With time, they will team up better, not just Vini and Mbappe but Mbappe with the midfielders as well.
“Offensively, we don’t have a problem. We haven’t had it these years and we’re not going to have it not that we have the best strikers in the world.”
Ancelotti also suggested that he is not worried about his team’s slow start to the LaLiga season, but appreciates that criticism is understandable.
Real Madrid have won one and drawn two of their opening three matches and are currently four points behind league leaders Barcelona, who have won all three.
“It’s absolutely normal because the demands on this team are at their highest,” he said.
“We are going to be criticised until May, this is normal for us. We are not happy because we are four points behind.”
But the Italian was quick to temper any overreactions.
“The season is very long and that (points difference) doesn’t mean much,” he said.
“We are trying to solve our problems. So far we have not been able to have a compact block and we have to improve this.
“I have talked about it with the players and they agree. When the problem is clear, it is easy to fix it.”
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