The only ones in favor are the clubs that made the mistake years ago of getting rid of their U21 or U23 teams, and now have no internal transition between youth and first team. That says it all.
What makes a U21 or U23 team valuable is that players can adapt to senior football. It’s the final prep and very important. A U21 league would take away most of that purpose of the U21/U23 teams.
Following Klopp's idea, kicker has asked 17 directors their opinions on an under-21 league:
✅ For:
Marcel Schäfer (Leipzig)
Sebastian Schindzielorz (Wolfsburg)
❌ Against/Sceptical:
Max Eberl (Bayern)
Markus Krösche (Frankfurt)
Lars Ricken (Dortmund)
Fabian Wohlgemuth (Stuttgart)
Jochen Saier (Freiburg)
Thomas Kessler (Köln)
Andreas Schicker (Hoffenheim)
Rouven Schröder (Gladbach)
Benni Weber (Augsburg)
Frank Baumann (Schalke)
😐 Undecided:
Simon Rolfes (Leverkusen)
Andreas Bornemann (St.Pauli)
Clemens Fritz (Bremen)
Christian Heidel (Mainz)
Holger Sanwald (Heidenheim)