New Under-21 league in Germany to begin with 26 teams

A new men's Under-21 football competition in Germany will start with 26 clubs from the Bundesliga and second division, organizers said on Tuesday.

The aim is to give players additional match practice at a high level while they transition between youth and professional football.

The "Bundesliga Talent Series" is a "voluntary additional offer with high flexibility for the clubs," a Bundesliga statement said.

Germany's 2014 World Cup winner Sami Khedira, part of an expert panel who helped develop the proposals, said: "There are quite a few examples in international top-level football of players whose decisive development boost came late and who did not make the direct leap from the U19s into the professional team.

"The introduction of this competition offers these career types a greater opportunity."

The new league will begin in the 2026-27 season.

It will be played in two half-seasons in a 'Swiss league' format, similar to the Champions League.

The two top-placed teams in each half-season, played from September to December and February to April, will qualify for a final tournament. Unlike the league games, these finals will be played in front of spectators.

Bundesliga sides Bayern Munich, Union Berlin, Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund, Elversberg, Eintracht Frankfurt, SV Hamburg, RB Leipzig, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Paderborn and Schalke will have under-21 teams in the new league.

Other top-flight sides have refrained for now and the 26 is made up of second-tier sides Hertha Berlin, Arminia Bielefeld, Bochum, Eintracht Braunschweig, Energie Cottbus, Darmstadt, Dynamo Dresden, Greuther Fürth, Hanover, Heidenheim, Holstein Kiel, Magdeburg, Nuremberg, St Pauli and Wolfsburg.

Some German clubs already have reserve sides - mainly maide up of younger players - playing in the lower leagues. The new league will be a more structured way of boosting youth talent.