Five years after the failed launch of the European Super League, Real Madrid is reportedly chasing a $90 million payment from the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City for setup costs

Real Madrid is reportedly seeking around $90 million in compensation from clubs that opted to withdraw from the failed European Super League.

Back in 2021, European soccer was thrown into chaos after 12 clubs announced their intention to form a breakaway league, the European Super League. The founding members included Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.

The announcement of the ESL was met with widespread derision from fans, players, and coaches. In 2019, two years before the official announcement, then-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admitted he opposed the formation of the league, before re-affirming his stance in 2021.

"My opinion didn't change," said Klopp when asked about his 2019 comments in 2021. In the end, the project was abandoned due to backlash from the teams.

He added, "It's a tough one. People are not happy about it, and I can understand that, but I cannot say a lot more about it because we were not involved in any processes- not the players, not me; we didn't know about it.

"We will have to wait to see how it develops."

The Athletic reports that Real Madrid wants the six Premier League clubs that signed up to the ESL to pay a share of the initial setup costs, with a source claiming the payment could be as high as $89.9 million.

Real Madrid's argument that the clubs should be liable for a portion of the setup costs seems to stem from the fact that they had signed a shareholders' agreement with the European Super League Company, a holding company based in Spain.

The shareholders' agreement, according to The Athletic, provided assurances for what the clubs expected to be a bright future for the league before the project collapsed.

Following the withdrawal of nine of the 12, six of which included the Premier League clubs, Florentino Perez, Real Madrid president, said in April 2021, "I'm not going to take my time to explain what a binding contract is here. But the fact is, the clubs can't leave."

The news of Real Madrid's pursuit of the setup payments comes after it was confirmed that the club intends to hire Bernd Reichart, CEO of A22 (a company working on behalf of the ESL), as its new head of business operations.

It is unclear whether Real Madrid will be successful in their pursuit of the money they believe other clubs need to pay. However, any money that is paid will go to the European Super League Company, not directly to Real Madrid.

If Real Madrid does seriously intend to pursue the clubs for the money, it will likely result in a lengthy legal challenge from the Spanish side.