Everything You Need To Know Heading Into 2025

UEFA Youth League

The UEFA Youth League is officially in the knockout stage of the competition. The Rond of 32 matchups have been selected, and they ill officially kick off in Feburary. Last year’s champions AZ Alkamaar will take on Portuguese giants in a matchup between two the best academies in all of Europe. We will also see a rematch between two of the top teams in the competition in mid February when Real Madrid take on Borussia Dortmund. These two swards faced off earlier in the competition as Real Madrid took home the victory in the match. As for other notable clubs in the competition, Inter will take on Lille, Manchester City will square off against FC Midtjylland, and finally, Liverpool will play Stuttgart.

MLS Next

The MLS Next will return on January 11th. Action will continue up until the Generation adidas Cup when the top MLS academy squads face off against foreign competition in the tournament. The league will shift its focus to the league play where the top teams qualify for MLS Next Cup and MLS Next Flex. Each league will have its top squads move to MLS Next Flex in May. In order to qualify for MLS Next Cup a team has to either qualify through their league, or by topping their group at MLS Next Flex.

Transfer Watch

The winter transfer window has already come two potential USYNT have already departed from their previous clubs. Keehan Barrett-Underwood has reportedly left Liverpool’s academy. Barrett-Underwood has only been in one USYNT camp to date, but it is a promising outside back who could become more active in the fold in the future. He previously played a bit for Leicester City’s academy, so we will see where he ends up. Another potential future star is headed to new MLS club San Diego FC. Anisse Saidi has reportedly left the Philadelphia Union academy to join San Diego. IT will be interesting to see where Saidi ends up as San Diego do not have an academy or second team set up.