LONDON: Premier League leaders Manchester City were on the verge of pulling out of the newly-created European Super League (ESL) on Tuesday, according to media reports.

Shortly after the BBC reported that Chelsea were preparing the paperwork to quit the controversial new competition , City appeared to be following suit as the project looked to be crumbling.

Premier League leaders City were one of six English clubs announced among the 12 founders of the new competition that has provoked widespread condemnation from within the game and beyond and threats of sanctions by European governing body UEFA.

City's apparent U-turn, two days after the announcement of the rival to the Champions League, came hours after manager Pep Guardiola spoke out against the competition.

The Spaniard said the ESL went against the ethos of sport as 15 of the 20 clubs involved would be permanent members without the threat of relegation.

"It is not sport when the relation between the effort and the success, the effort and the reward, does not exist," Guardiola told a news conference ahead of his team's Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

"It is not a sport where success is already guaranteed or it is not a sport when it doesn't matter if you lose.

"It is not fair when one team fights to arrive at the top and cannot be qualified because the success is already guaranteed just for a few teams."

Guardiola said he had been told of the ESL proposal hours before it was announced on Sunday, and called on Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to explain his position.

"I would love the president of the committee to go out around the world and explain how we got this decision," Guardiola said.

The club's website carried Guardiola's candid quotes, a hint that they were less than committed to the ESL.

City and their fellow English breakaway clubs -- Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur -- have come in for fierce criticism for their plan to join the ESL, even from their own fans.

Earlier in the day the Premier League's 14 other clubs met to discuss the crisis along with the Football Association.

The Premier League issued a statement on Tuesday saying it "unanimously and vigorously rejected" the plans and were considering action to bring the six clubs to account.