This makes Junventus' frantic clinging to the Super League idea so much more understandable. For them it was potentially a golden ticket out of financial ruin. But of course it would not have solved the underlying issues at the club, so even that would have been merely a Band Aid.
I agree with you.
The Super League idea is (was) the European clubs' poor answer to a problem they know they have but refuse to admit. They know the problem is money, duh, there aren't many solutions to that problem:
- increase revenue;
- finding a generous patron;
- keep spending in check;
The only way they know to increase revenue is by increasing ticket prices and trying to squeeze more money out of TV rights, either by forcing the leagues to sell TV rights at a higher price or by completely screwing smaller clubs out of the TV rights money distribution.
In order to have a generous patron the owners need to either sell the clubs or going back to the old ways of spending like there's no tomorrow.
The solution, in my opinion, should be the third one, but to keep spending in check you need a set of rules common to every league in UEFA, like a hard salary cap - but I remember I read somewhere it technically is against some European law - based on net salaries, because, of course, every country has a different tax system, abolish transfer fees and only allow trades or signing players once their contracts are expired, more financial oversight also limiting the money you can spend to buy players from outside the UEFA leagues, based on the club's financial situation and, of course, strict rules that are strictly enforced.
Naturally, no amount of financial oversight or good management can save a club if said club signs poor players or managers and pays them a lot more than they're worth.
