New Super League president Perez: 'We are doing this to save football'

New European Super League president Florentino Perez insists the controversial breakaway league is necessary to save clubs in financial terms and is determined it will go ahead - whether Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich continue to refuse to join or not.

The Real Madrid president was announced on Sunday in a similar role to his current post as the first chief of the new league, which involves Premier League 'Big Six' Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham replacing their European commitments with UEFA, such as the Champions League.

Perez's Madrid were joined by LaLiga rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid while Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan have also signed up, but German giants Bayern Munich and French counterparts PSG have insisted they will not be following suit.

But speaking on El Chiringuito in Spain, the 74-year-old claimed the Super League was a necessary measure for all clubs including his own to combat the loss of income brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

And he insisted that it was 'bulls***' that it could be cancelled if other big sides refuse to eventually join, claiming football would be 'dead' in three years' time under current competitions and models, and maintained the Premier League would not cease to exist if the controversial proposals were approved.

'Many important clubs in Spain, Italy and UK want to find a solution to a very bad financial situation,' Perez said.

'The only way is to play more competitive games. If instead of playing the Champions League, the Super League helps the clubs to recover the lost earnings.

'Here at Real Madrid we've lost a lot of money, we are all going through a very bad situation. When there is no profit, the only way is to play more competitive games during the week. The Super League will save clubs financially.

'PSG were not invited, as of today. We haven't even spoken to German clubs. We are now 12 clubs, we want to become 15 clubs. If PSG and Bayern Munich refuse, the Super League competition will not be cancelled. This is bulls***.

'Football must evolve like everything in life. Football has to adapt to the times we live in now. Football is losing interest from fans, TV rights are decreasing. We wanted to do the Super League, the pandemic has given us urgency, right now we are all ruined in football

'Even in the Premier League, if the top clubs are economically stronger, all the other clubs will also become stronger. It is a consequence. We want a dialogue with UEFA as we proposed in the Super League, we want to save football.

'This Super League is not for the rich, but it's to save football. If this continues, football will disappear and by 2024 we would already be dead. This is the only way to save everyone: big, medium and small clubs.

'Boris Johnson said he will do everything to cancel the Super League because they explained to him that the Premier League would disappear: it's false, it's not true. Everything will go back to normal.

'The 15 founding clubs are the ones that matter the most in terms of entertainment. Others likes of Napoli, Roma will have a chance to be in the competition one year or another and then let's see.

'The new Champions League format for 2024 is something absurd. I have no personal interest in making this Super League. I am not the owner of Real but only the president because Real is owned by the members. I only want to save football'

'Real Madrid and other Super League clubs will NOT be excluded from this 2020/2021 Champions League. It won't happen, the law protects us. This is impossible.

Players banned from international competitions and National teams according to UEFA? Don't worry, this will not happen. They won't be banned if they join the Super League.'