The “big four” appeared to be under siege from Uefa last night, but while the threat that they could face expulsion from the Champions League was designed to shock, it was a separate attack from Michel Platini that could cause even greater resentment, particularly at Anfield.

With nine Barclays Premier League clubs under foreign ownership, Platini, the Uefa president, claimed that English clubs were in danger of losing their identities. In what some might consider to be inflammatory language, the Frenchman said: “Do you want in Liverpool an Arab sheikh as president with one Brazilian coach and nine or 11 African players? Where is Liverpool in that? We have to make some rules.”

Platini, in England to be inducted into the National Football Museum’s European hall of fame, added: “You have to have identity, that is where football’s popularity lies. If you bring some people from Qatar and there is no one from Liverpool or Manchester on the pitch or in the company, where is Liverpool or Manchester?

“I think it is not good. I think the Qataris should invest in Qatar . . . they should develop the football in each country. Not go to take money and to come and take a chance and then go back. Can we do something against it? I will try to do something.”

Earlier, England’s leading clubs reacted with bemusement after being warned that they could face exclusion from the Champions League if they continue to operate with large debts. The sums owed by Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United add up to more than £2 billion, but the quartet share the belief that the “ultimate sanction” threatened by a senior Uefa official yesterday is unworkable.

David Taylor, the general secretary of Uefa and previously the chief executive of the Scottish FA, said at the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge that tighter controls must be placed on clubs who operate with large debts. Taylor said that Uefa would seek to “strengthen the minimum financial criteria” for clubs involved in European competition and that “the ultimate sanction” — exclusion from the Champions League or Uefa Cup — was “absolutely possible”.

Lord Triesman, the FA chairman, had said on Tuesday that clubs are jeopardising their futures by exposing themselves to large debt, but with the possible exception of Liverpool, whose American owners are expected to sell the club, none of the “big four” are concerned by their financial predicament or by the threat from one of Uefa’s most influential administrators.

Chelsea are, according to their most recent financial figures, £736 million in debt, but Steve Atkins, the club’s head of media, suggested that Taylor’s warning was directed at their rivals.

“Chelsea’s financial position cannot be compared with that at other clubs,” Atkins said. “Our unique ownership structure means that the only debt as such is internal in the form of interest-free loans from the owner \. This stands us apart from other clubs that have substantial external debt with significant annual interest payments.”

That is the case for United, whose owners, the Glazer family, appear content to leave the club to meet their own interest payments on the debt of £764 million that has been run up to finance their purchase of the club in 2005. United would not respond publicly to Taylor’s comments, but their stance was summed up recently by David Gill, the chief executive, who described the debt as “comfortable and serviceable” in view of the revenue that United generate.

Arsenal are, at the most recent count, £318 million in the red, with the majority of that debt tied up in the construction of the Emirates Stadium and the Highbury Square development. Amanda Doherty, the Arsenal director of communications, said: “The club wants to be a self-sustaining business, which is why we moved. The payments are affordable and our revenue is increasing as we stay on target for our aim. With the revenue that has tripled since the stadium move, that debt will come down.”

It was with a similar plan in mind that Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the Liverpool owners, bought the club in February 2007, but, with their holding company owing £350 million, they are close to accepting defeat. They have been unable to borrow the extra £300 million needed to finance the construction of a new stadium in Stanley Park and a second change of ownership in two years is expected.