Could UEFA's NextGen hijack leave Villa out in the cold?

The future of popular pan-European Under 19 tournament The NextGen Series could be under threat, as UEFA plans to launch it's own version next season, a version which would exclude Aston Villa.

UEFA have been stung into action by the growing popularity of NextGen, now into a second season and are thought to be keen on wresting back control of youth football. However, the plan for the UEFA Youth League is to allow participation only to clubs whose first teams have qualified for the last 32 in UEFA's Champions League. Such a move would seem to exclude teams who have shone in the NextGen, such as Sporting Lisbon and of course the Villa.

As it seems fairly unlikely that the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona would enter teams in two European tournaments, the NextGen series would face the danger of losing some of it's biggest names and hence it's appeal as it seeks to grow.

Meanwhile, many would call into question the validity of UEFA's new youth tournament if criteria for entry is to be based solely on first team performance rather than on the standards and achievements of the competing academies. Just 10 of the 24 sides in this year's Next Gen had first teams in this season's Champions League

Villa qualified for the quarter finals of this year's tournament on Tuesday, coming through a tricky away tie at Ajax while Mikey Drennan has been the tournament's goal machine, netting six goals.