Barcelona’s Josep Bartomeu resigns, says club has started proceedings to join new European Super League

During Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League games, news broke that Josep Bartomeu and the rest of the Barcelona board were resigning amid a tumultuous few months. However, while the resignation is what made news earlier, what Bartomeu admitted to in his press conference is what is the big news here.

“The Board of Directors has approved the acceptance of the requirements to participate in a future European Super League of Football Clubs, a project promoted by the big clubs in Europe.”

There you have it, folks. Finally, on the record, a major European club has admitted that that European Super League is a thing that has actual legs and is the early stages of coming to fruition.

Bartomeu’s statement that the final decision to move forward with the Super League will be turned over to the club’s members could have a ripple effect across Europe if other big clubs are at the same stage in this process. A key to keep an eye on is whether the other big European teams with members that would be required to vote on such a move — think Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, etc — will announce something publicly in the near future as well.

Of course, Bartomeu is also admitting to this now, on his way out, as Barcelona are riddled by hundreds of millions of euros of debt. The new Super League will likely solidify their finances until the end of time, and he would have a claim to “I helped secure FC Barcelona’s future.” until the day he dies.