How Many Wonderkids Does Football Manager Get Right?

I’ve gone through every version of Football Manager from 2013 to 2023 to see how many wonderkids the game actually got right. Obviously, there are way too many to evaluate all of them, so I’ve picked the ten highest-rated wonderkids from each version and checked whether they turned out to be great or flopped in real life.

I based my selections on the ratings given by FM Scout’s wonderkids list, which is why I started in 2013. That was the first year they gave proper rankings. I’ve only chosen players who were 18 or younger at the time. That way, the list doesn’t get clogged up with players who had already made big moves and were almost guaranteed to succeed. I’m judging them on whether they reached the elite level. If they only made it as far as a decent standard – for example, a mid-table Premier League level – they go in the “in the middle” category.

With that explained, let’s start with FM13!

FM13 best wonderkids:

• Laurentiu Branescu (18, goalkeeper) – Flop
•  Kurt Zouma (17, defender) – In the middle
•  Romario (18, defender) – Flop
•  Ryan McLaughlin (17, defender) – Flop
•  Leon Goretzka (17, midfielder) – Hit
•  Julian Draxler (18, winger) – Hit
•  Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (18, winger) – Hit
•  Gerard Deulofeu (18, winger) – In the middle
•  Alvaro Vadillo (17, winger) – Flop
•  Okay Yokuslu (18, AM) – Flop

5 flops, 2 in the middle, 3 hits

FM14 best wonderkids:

• Niklas Sule (17, CB) – Hit
•  Luke Shaw (17, LB) – Hit
•  Niklas Stark (18, DM) – In the middle
•  Jordan Rossiter (16, DM) – Flop
•  Serge Gnabry (17, winger) – Hit
•  Otavio (18, winger) – In the middle
•  Adnan Januzaj (18, AM) – In the middle
•  Maximilian Meyer (17, AM) – Flop
•  Ewandro (17, ST) – Flop
•  Donis Avdijaj (16, ST) – Flop

4 flops, 3 in the middle, 3 hits

FM15 best wonderkids:

• Valentin Cojocaru (18, GK) – Flop
•  Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (17, GK) – Flop
•  Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (18, CDM) – Hit
•  Ruben Neves (17, CDM) – Hit
•  Andres Cubas (18, CDM) – Flop
•  Youri Tielemans (17, CM) – Hit
•  Zakaria Bakkali (18, winger) – Flop
•  Andrija Zivkovic (17, winger) – In the middle
•  Martin Odegaard (15, CAM) – Hit
•  Gabriel Barbosa (17, ST) – In the middle

4 flops, 2 in the middle, 4 hits

FM16 best wonderkids:

• Gianluigi Donnarumma (16, GK) – Hit
•  Bartlomiej Dragowski (17, GK) – In the middle
•  Jesus Vallejo (18, CB) – Flop
•  Riechedly Bazoer (18, DM) – Flop
•  Abdou Lahat Diakhate (16, CM) – Flop
•  Renato Sanches (17, CM) – In the middle
•  Leo Jaba (16, winger) – Flop
•  Bilal Ould-Chikh (17, winger) – Flop
•  Lincoln (16, CAM) – Flop
•  Rui Pedro (17, striker) – Flop

7 flops, 2 in the middle, 1 hit

FM17 best wonderkids:

• Alban Lafont (17, GK) – In the middle
•  Pol Lirola (18, RB) – In the middle
•  Atakan Akkaynak (17, DM) – Flop
•  Afonso Sousa (16, CM) – Flop
• Kai Havertz (17, CAM) – Hit
•  Kylian Mbappe (17, LW) – Hit
•  Christian Pulisic (17, LW) – Hit
•  Cipriano Marquinhos (18, RW) – Flop
•  Joao Felix (16, CAM) – Hit
•  Johannes Eggestein (18, ST) – Flop

4 flops, 2 in the middle, 4 hits

FM18 best wonderkids:

• Alessandro Plizzari (17, GK) – Flop
•  Josh Tymon (18, LB) – Flop
•  Trent Alexander-Arnold (18, RB) – Hit
•  Federico Valverde (18, DM) – Hit
•  Sergio Gomez (16, CM) – In the middle
•  Vinicius Jr (16, LW) – Hit
•  Rodrygo (16, LW) – Hit
•  Thiago Almada (16, AM) – In the middle
•  Richard (17, AM) – Flop
•  Moise Kean (17, ST) – Hit

3 flops, 2 in the middle, 5 hits

FM19 best wonderkids:

• Matthijs de Ligt (18, CB) – In the middle
• Sandro Tonali (18, CDM) – Hit
• Ryan Gravenberch (16, CM) – Hit
•  Mickael Cuisance (18, CM) – Flop
•  Morgan Gibbs-White (18, CM) – Hit
•  Jadon Sancho (18, LW) – In the middle
•  Jeremy Doku (16, LW) – Hit
•  Phil Foden (18, CAM) – Hit
•  Elias Abouchabaka (18, CAM) – Flop
•  Pietro Pellegri (17, ST) – Flop

3 flops, 2 in the middle, 5 hits

FM20 best wonderkids:

• Maarten Vandevoordt (17, GK) – Flop
• Rayan Ait-Nouri (18, LB) – Hit
• Eduardo Camavinga (16, DM) – Hit
• Pedri (16, CAM) – Hit
• Rayan Cherki (15, LW) – Hit
• Ansu Fati (16, LW) – In the middle
• Naci Unuvar (16, LW) – Flop
• Emanuel Vignato (18, RW) – Flop
• Mohammed Ihattaren (17, CAM) – Flop
• Mason Greenwood (17, ST) – Hit

4 flops, 1 in the middle, 5 hits

FM21 best wonderkids;

• Josko Gvardiol (18, CB) – Hit
• Tanguy Nianzou (18, CB) – In the middle
• Nuno Mendes (18, LB) – Hit
• Riccardo Calafiori (18, LB) – Hit
• Illaix Moriba (17, CM) – In the middle
• Pierre Dwomoh (16, CM) – Flop
• Jude Bellingham (17, CAM) – Hit
• Nico Serrano (17, LW) – Flop
• Yeremi Pino (17, RW) – In the middle
• Youssoufa Moukoko (15, ST) – In the middle

2 flops, 4 in the middle, 4 hits

FM22 best wonderkids:

• Giorgio Scalvini (17, CB) – Hit
• Destiny Udogie (18, LB) – Hit
• Tino Livramento (18, RB) – Hit
• Rafael Luis (16, DM) – Flop
• Gavi (16, CM) – Hit
• Takuhiro Nakai (17, CM) – Flop
• Jamal Musiala (18, LW) – Hit
• Harvey Elliott (18, RW) – Hit
• Hugo Felix (17, CAM) – Flop
• Fabio Silva (18, ST) – Flop

4 flops, 6 hits

Conclusion:

Total out of 100:

Flops = 40
In the middle = 20
Hits = 40

So, exactly half flops and half hits. Pretty symmetrical. It shows that when it comes to these super-young wonderkids, things can go either way. But the numbers do suggest that Football Manager has become more accurate as the years have gone on.

 

Check out our full, in depth FM 26 Release Date article, which is constantly updated when we get news on anything FM 26 related!

Check out our Premier League predicted lineups with data, tactical insights and injury news every single Gameweek!