Pep Guardiola has agreed with Jurgen Klopp’s stance regarding the proposition for a Premier League All-star game.
New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly recently suggested the idea of a fixture taking place between two sides, one made up of players from the North with the other players coming from sides from the South.
The Liverpool boss found the idea rather funny when he was asked about Boehly’s plans after his side’s victory over Ajax on Tuesday and the Manchester City boss has now weighed in on the debate.
“I don’t have an opinion. Not at all,” he said (as quoted by the Independent). “I agree with Jurgen. If they give me the dates we should play it’d be nice, but I don’t have an opinion.”
It would certainly be a thrilling game to watch, but with the fixture schedule already rammed and the Qatar World Cup disrupting domestic football across November and December, it’s hard to see time being found for such a fixture to take place.
Boehly discussed the ideas at a conference in New York recently, saying (as quoted by the BBC): “Why don’t we do a tournament with the bottom four sports teams, why isn’t there an All-Star game?
“People are talking about more money for the pyramid, in the MLB All-Star game this year we made $200m (£173m) from a Monday and a Tuesday.
“So we’re thinking we could do a north versus south All-Star game for the Premier League, for whatever the pyramid needed, quite easily.”
It’s clear that profit and financial gains is the sole motivation for the new Chelsea owner, but when he was asked about what other owners of Premier League clubs will think about his idea, he said: “Everyone likes the idea of more revenue for the league.
“There’s a real cultural aspect. I think evolution will come.”
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, West Ham manager David Moyes and former Liverpool captain and current Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard have also sounded their concerns with Boehly’s plans.
It may be an interesting idea from the American, but we can’t see such fixture taking place anytime soon.
I wouldn’t waste my money on a glorified friendly. This guy needs to shut up as he’s embarrassing himself.