“Sports Bild” recently reported that the German Football League (DFL) plans to introduce the U21 league starting from the 2026/27 season, aiming to narrow the gap between German youth professional football and adult professional football.
The proposal was reportedly developed by an expert group consisting of Red Bull global head of football Jurgen Klopp, Bayern Munich sports committee member Max Eberl, Eintracht Frankfurt sports committee member Markus Krosche, DFB chief executive Mark Lenz, DFB Sport managing director Andreas Rettig and 2014 World Cup winner Sami Khedira.
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Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp first introduced the idea to the public last summer in an interview with Welt am Sonntag, sparking widespread discussion.
and speak brin news network Speaking at a media interview in Leipzig with other selected journalists earlier this month, Klopp said the idea was continuing to develop.
“When I started discussing it, I got a lot of wonderful responses,” Klopp told Bulinews.com.
“Everyone bought into the idea. It was clear that we needed to make some changes. Together we found a solution, even though we didn’t know exactly what it would look like yet.
“But something will happen and we will try to help young players in a very decisive age group to play more often than they do now. Let’s see how we can do that,” Klopp added.
The DFL has yet to officially comment on the matter, and German professional clubs are expected to vote on whether to introduce an U21 league at their shareholder meeting in March.
