Chelsea owner makes controversial suggestion that would impact Leeds United

Leeds United players could feature in a new Premier League all-star game - if Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly gets his way.

The Blues chairman believes the Premier League should follow the example set by the NBA and MLB by opening up their season with a glamour friendly between two sides made up on players from clubs in the North and South of England.

That would mean the likes of Patrick Bamford and Illan Meslier possibility lining up alongside stars from Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United in a showcase event.

The suggestion comes as Boehly outlined a number of plans to revolutionise English football.

Other proposals include a play-off scenario to decide relegation and promotion between the Premier League and Championship in a bid to further boost the already lucrative broadcasting revenue received by clubs.

However, it is the idea of an all-star game to launch the season that has caught the headlines.

Speaking at a New York conference, Boehly said: “Ultimately I hope the Premier League takes a little bit of a lesson from American sports.

“And really starts to figure out, why don’t we do a tournament with the bottom four sports teams, why isn’t there an All-Star game?

“People are talking about more money for the pyramid, in the MLB All-Star game this year we made 200m dollars from a Monday and a Tuesday.

“So we’re thinking we could do a North versus South All-Star game for the Premier League, for whatever the pyramid needed quite easily.”

The suggestion received a withering response from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who has been a constant critic of the fixture congestion suffered by Premier League clubs competing in European competitions.

The Reds boss said: “He doesn’t wait long.

“When he finds a date for that he can call me. He forgets in American sports these players have four-month breaks so they are quite happy they can do a little bit of sport in these breaks. It’s completely different in football.

“Does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters as well?”