Today has the potential to bring in and establish a new era of football. Whilst there have been new-money Superclubs flittering around the established European elites, they were always seen to be the anomalies. The annoying kids at school who show off new toys and gadgets without any discernible skills or popularity.
This decision vindicates the oil-state owners and their move to blow competition out of the water through massive spending. It's hard to see how football clubs will be able to develop and compete at the top level without similar level investments.
For the likes of RB Leipzig, PSG and obviously City this is a great day. For mid-sized but established top-league clubs there are positives as they have all become very interesting to potential investors.
For the likes of Bayern, Barca, Real, Juve... well, this couldn't be worse as it massively undermines their stature which is largely based on reputation, standing and prestige. Their standing also detracts them from investors as they are less malleable in a cultural sense and expensive investment options.
Jury is out on how this effects us and Liverpool. Arsenal have already been sunk by the big money clubs, and Spurs are in a strange transitional period. The wealth/popularity of the EPL, strong marketability and global standing of United may be enough to ensure we stay competitive. But if the Glazers want us to offset any Covid financial hits, we could fall away quickly.
This has marked a real shift in European football, and whilst fans of oil money-backed clubs will no doubt celebrate today's decision, I'm not sure if there are any winners other than these clubs' owners tomorrow. Strange times.