By Craig Turnbull
22 Jun 2011 18:01:00
FA Cup : Mario Balotelli – Micah Richards, Manchester City v Aston Villa
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A new Uefa under-19s competition will provide a stepping stone for future football superstars, according to Manchester City‘s academy chief Mark Allen.
A proposal has been made for a 16-team competition – dubbed the NextGen tournament – that will see academies from across Europe competing against each other.
City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa will be the representatives from England in the first season.
Celtic are the sole representative from Scotland, and other teams such as Barcelona, Inter and Sporting Lisbon will also participate with more clubs looking to join the set-up in the future.
Allen believes the tournament will help nurture and improve young talent.
“The average age for a Premier League debut is becoming older, 21 or 22 when before it might have been 17 or 18,” he told the club’s official website.
“You have to bridge that gap and prepare them for a better standard of football.
“We’ll be competing against the best in Europe, a la the Champions League format, and we see it as an important chapter in the development of Manchester City.
“It’s the next stepping stone, so as they come through the academy system there is the platform for them to be playing football at a level that is commensurate with their development.
“It will prepare them for those balmy nights we’ll hopefully have in the Champions League as the club moves forward.
“We want to prepare them for what they will encounter as fully fledged professionals.
“Who knows, we might be seeing the new Lionel Messi on a Thursday night at Hyde.”
It means that City will opt out of competing in the Barclays Premier Reserve League as they hope to include a mix of reserves and academy prospects as clubs will be allowed to field three under-20 players in the under-19 games.
The Blues will also compete in both the Manchester and Lancashire Senior cups as well as some “prestige” friendlies.
“We found it the reserve league just a little bit too rigid in terms of fixtures,” Allen added.
“This will allow us the scope for a flexible games programme.
“We can also take advantage of playing games further afield as we engage more with some of the clubs we have close relations with in Europe and across the UK.”
But City will have to play in the academy league too as this is a compulsory tournament.
“It is an individual choice to play in the reserve league but all teams play in the academy league,” a Premier League spokesman told the Press Association.
“The NextGen fixtures have to be completed over and above the Premier League Academy season.”