Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the finest players ever to grace a football pitch, or a laptop screen.
Anyone playing Football Manager after 2004 most likely saw these two as mortal enemies, rather than potential signings.
The dream is to scout a wonderkid who could become as good as them, but how often did it actually happen?
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For Football Manager fans, the wait is finally over. After FM25 was cancelled last year, a new addition is set to arrive. Sports Interactive confirmed that those who pre-ordered FM26 with beta access will get their hands on the game on the evening of Thursday, September 23.
And the question on everyone’s lips is, who will be the top wonderkid this year? Lamine Yamal will surely be out of reach, unless you’re starting with a Barcelona save. For the rest of us, we will be scouring every corner of the globe to find someone just as talented.
But we’ve been here before and discovered some incredible gems. Here, Express Sport has taken a look at some of the top wonderkids of yesteryear – but did they live up to the hype?
If you played FM14 or FM15, you are very aware of Eder Alvarez Balanta.
Possibly the greatest defender to exist on the game, considering he was often available for a bargain price.
The Colombian centre-back could be prised out of River Plate and you could guarantee that he would be a rock in your defence for well over a decade.
In reality, he couldn’t quite hit the same heights, but carved out a solid career with Basel and Club Brugge before heading back to his homeland at America de Cali.
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Igor Akinfeev became first-choice goalkeeper at CSKA Moscow at the age of 16 and entered the hearts of FM05 players.
For multiple versions of the game, Akinfeev was as trusted as a goalkeeper could be and in FM05, at 18, he was valued at just £2.3million. He would go on to help countless players win honours at the highest level.
In real life, it’s hard to say that Akinfeev did not live up to his potential. He is one of Russia’s greatest-ever players and a rare one-club man, having made over 600 appearances for CSKA, where he still plys his trade at the age of 39.
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Oh Bojan. If you were looking for Lionel Messi, you pretty much found him in FM.
In FM08, the 17-year-old was a wonderkid of the highest order and immediately a contributing player in one of the greatest Barcelona teams of all time.
Congratulations if you were able to prise him out of the Nou Camp to undoubtedly lead your team to Champions League glory, some of us were not as fortunate.
Injuries derailed his career in real life, however, and he would eventually end up playing for Roma, Ajax and Stoke before ending his playing days in Japan with Vissel Kobe. He now mentors the next generation of La Masia graduates.
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Cherno Samba was a Championship Manager legend by the time he was 15 and for very good reason.
At Millwall, save after save, he would go on to become the next great superstar. And you could buy him for peanuts. One of the first icons born out of the game who will be forever etched in video game folklore.
He would prompt many players to belt out “What’s that coming over the hill, it’s Cherno Samba, Cherno Samba” from their homes as he led them to yet another title.
“It will stay with me until the last day of my life,” Samba, 40, told The Telegraph in April. “I could be 101 with a stick and people will still come and talk to me about Championship Manager.”
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