What happened to the best XI wonderkids Football Manager tipped to dominate football back in 2015?
Cast your mind back to the 2014/2015 season, when Barcelona ruled Europe with an attack of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez – but there were several talents on the popular Football Manager 2015 game that were tipped for great things.
The 2015 version of the popular series was released on Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux on November 7, 2014, during the 2014/15 season.
This was the twelfth instalment of the game and was loved by players just as much as its eleven previous versions.
For some, 2015 may feel like yesterday, but for context, Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Endrick had not been born.
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The term ‘wonderkind’ is thrown about often, but back then, it was used much less. And you had to have serious potential to be labelled with the term.
Where are the promising youngsters of 2015 now, and how did their careers play out?
The XI selected is based on FM Scout’s ‘potential development’ ratings.
First, Laurentui Branescu may or may not be a familiar name, but in 2015, he was tipped to become a top ‘keeper.
At the time, he was at Juventus but was subsequently loaned to eight clubs – including Scottish side Kilmarnock - before he moved to his native Romania in 2021.
Since then, he has failed to live up to the hefty heights once expected of him.
He is currently playing for Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț in the Romanian second-tier.
Moving into the defence, several familiar names make the list.
Most notably, Marquinhos, who has been a stalwart in the PSG defence for over a decade, was hotly tipped to become a world-class defender.
And with 95 Brazil caps to his name to go alongside nine Ligue 1 titles, it is fair to say he lived up to expectations.
Samuel Umtiti also made the list; he too went on to have a successful career playing for Barcelona and Lyon.
But arguably, his crowning moment was the 2018 World Cup semi-final winning header for France against Belgium in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
France went on to beat Croatia 4-2 in the final to secure their second World Cup triumph. Now 31, the defender is at Lille.
Full-backs Jonny Otto and Jose Gaya had respectable careers, with the former playing over 80 games for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Otto is currently at PAOK, while Gaya plays for Valencia and has 22 caps for Spain.
Moving into the midfield, the two big names on the list are Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard and Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic.
When the game was released in November 2014, Odegaard was a youngster at Real Madrid, while Kovacic was at Inter Milan but did move to Madrid in 2015.
It’s fair to say both players have fulfilled their potential and still have a fair way to go in their respective careers at the elite level of the game.
The other midfielder on the list, Lucas Romero, has carved out a respectable career at various South American and Mexican clubs but has never really fulfilled his potential.
Moving onto the forwards, Luciano Vietto plied his trade at Villarreal in 2014 before securing a move to Atletico Madrid.
Despite scoring against city rivals Real during his first season, his career never played out as expected, and several loan spells - including a stint at Fulham - followed.
He is currently at Primera Division side Racing Club in his native Argentina.
Next up, Gerard Deulofeu was a fan favourite during his time at Everton.
Following his 2013-14 loan spell to the Merseyside club, he returned to La Liga with another loan to Sevilla from his parent club Barcelona.
He went on to sign for the Toffees in 2015 and after showing signs of promise, suffered several injuries before being loaned to AC Milan.
Oddly, he re-signed for Barca in 2017 but was once again loaned out, this time to Watford, who he signed for in 2018.
Arguably, his highlight at the club was his perfectly curled FA Cup semi-final goal against Wolves in 2019.
He went on to sign for Serie A outfit Udinese in 2021 but suffered a serious knee injury in January 2023 and has not featured since.
And finally, Denis Suarez was tipped for great things when he was loaned from Barcelona to Sevilla in 2014.
Despite playing over 200 La Liga games, he has failed to reach the high expectations expected of him back in 2015. He currently plays for Villarreal.
So, in fairness, several of the predictions from 2015 did turn out to be relatively accurate.
Full Football Manager 2015 wonderkid XI:
· Laurentiu Branescu
· Jonny Otto
· Marquinhos
· Samuel Umtiti
· Jose Luis Gaya
· Lucas Romero
· Mateo Kovacic
· Martin Odegaard
· Gerard Deulofeu
· Luciano Vietto
· Denis Suarez
Topics: Martin Odegaard, Mateo Kovacic, Football
Luke Davies