Don’t dismiss the ESL so lightly. And IOC should poll not pontificate.

‘Laughable’, ‘all hot air’, ‘flimsy’, a ‘walking corpse’. So has English football, on a mostly unattributable basis, dismissed the attempt to breathe new life into the European Super League concept which unravelled so swiftly and spectacularly two years ago. But sat on this side of the English Channel, we would say that, wouldn’t we? Is it so unthinkable that clubs across the continent might yet wrestle power from UEFA’s sticky gloves?

The revised plans from the would-be rebels, unveiled last week, are founded on an appreciation of the financial hegemony of the Premier League. The Prem’s competitiveness is key to its commercial attractiveness. And with broadcast and sponsor revenues comes power in the transfer market. The flow of playing talent is increasingly one way, so making the financial circle even more virtuous. The net effect is that valuations of mid-ranking clubs in England’s top flight now outstrip all but the grandest names in the rest of Europe.

PSG currently top Ligue 1, having won eight of the past ten titles. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico have together filled the top three slots in Spain for the past decade. Bayern Munich have won the Bundesliga every year over the same period, although are currently only a point clear of their nearest rivals this time around. By contrast, there have been five different English champions in ten years with a sixth team top of the table at the time of writing.

Juventus have won eight Serie A titles in ten years, but financial scandals have broken the club’s stranglehold in Italy. The two Milan clubs took a title apiece over the past two seasons and Napoli are currently runaway leaders. Juve have been docked 15 points, and so sit 9th rather than 2nd in the table.