It’s time for another trip back in time here on Fuller FM! I will once again be revisiting my long-time Football Manager 2013 save to see how the footballing world looks in the year 2022.
Last time out, we looked at where some of today’s football superstars had ended up 10 seasons into my FM13 universe. Who’d have thought Son Heung-Min would be playing Championship football for Aston Villa?
For today’s article, I’ve found 15 players who developed into world-class talents on FM13, but who never reached those giddy heights in the real world. So where, how and why did it all go wrong for these Football Manager wonderkids?
RAPHAËL CALVET
To start things off, we have a product from the famed Auxerre academy. On FM13, Calvet was an imposing, resolute centre-back who could also play at defensive midfield if required. In this save, he enjoyed his best year in 2019, when he made his France international debut and secured a £6.25million move to Italian giants Juventus.
Calvet’s real-life career started promisingly, playing the full 90 minutes of a Ligue 1 match against Châteauroux in November 2012 – but a serious knee injury and a change of manager derailed his Auxerre career. The teenager tried to make a fresh start in London with Brentford, making several appearances for their development team but never quite breaking into the senior squad.
The former France Under-20s international returned home in 2015 and has since made a living as a lower-league holding midfielder. After spells at Annecy, Le Mans and Sedan, he signed for Martigues – newly-promoted to the third-tier Championnat National – in July 2022.
LORENZO CRISETIG
Crisetig was a must-buy midfielder on Football Manager for many years. A left-footed playmaker with energy to burn, he would started off at Parma and would soon hit the big time. He was especially productive in this universe for PSG, winning multiple Ligue 1 titles and tearing defences apart. In the 2021/2022 season, he recorded 11 goals, 31 assists and a 7.89 average rating!
In reality, Crisetig was co-owned by Parma and Internazionale for several years, but made a grand total of zero league appearances for them (though he did feature for Inter in the Champions League when he was just 18). Instead, he was sent out on loan to a number of clubs – including Bologna, who bought him outright in 2016.
Things didn’t go to plan at the Rossoblù either, and by 2019, Crisetig was without a club. After a brief stint in Spain with Mirandés, he finally found some stability in 2020 upon signing for Reggina. He now captains ‘Gli Amaranto’, who finished 14th in Serie B last season and are currently coached by Italy legend Filippo Inzaghi.
ÁLVARO DOMÍNGUEZ
After winning two Europa League titles with boyhood club Atlético Madrid before his 23rd birthday, Domínguez was destined to become one of Europe’s leading centre-backs. In 2012, he secured an €8million move to Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he would become a Fohlen legend and win the World Cup and European Championship back-to-back with Spain in 2018 and 2020.
If only. Sadly, his career began to derail in 2013, when he gave away two penalties against Bayern München in quick succession. Then came a spate of serious injuries, particularly in his back, and he required two operations that forced him to miss countless matches over the next few years.
After making only 10 appearances in the 2015/2016 season, Domínguez was unable to fully resume his career, retiring in December 2016 at the age of just 27. He contemplated legal action against Gladbach for playing him against his will and aggravating his injuries. Domínguez now works as an agent, and his clients include the Chelsea wing-back Marc Cucurella.
CARLOS FIERRO
Carlos Fierro was THE wonderkid of FM12, when the pacey Mexican striker could literally run through defenders and score bags of goals. Though this bug wasn’t so evident on FM13, he could still leave defenders for dust given half a chance. Here he is at Porto, where he has 125 Primeira Liga goals and two Champions Leagues to his name.
Fierro was tipped for big things in 2011, when he inspired Mexico to the FIFA U-17 World Cup on home soil. He soon broke through at Guadalajara, where he eventually made an impressive 198 appearances in seven years. Less impressively, he scored only 20 goals and never found any real consistency.
Fierro left Chivas for Cruz Azul, but still struggled for form and goals. His turmoil continued when he moved north of the border to San Jose Earthquakes for a couple of MLS seasons. Now back in Mexico with Juárez, he plays mostly as a winger – which says it all, really.
VIKTOR FISCHER
Shortly after the emergence of Christian Eriksen, it looked like Ajax had unearthed another great Dane in Fischer. Gifted with silky-smooth technique in both feet and an eye for goal, he became a devastating presence on the left wing for Bayern München after a big-money transfer in 2016.
Fischer did indeed leave Ajax in 2016 – and his €5million transfer to Middlesbrough was seen as a huge coup for the Premier League returnees. Sadly, things never quite clicked on Teesside, as Fischer failed to score in 16 matches and a hopeless Boro team were relegated. Viktor held no hard feelings towards Middlesbrough, later admitting that it was probably the right club at the wrong time.
Fischer also struggled in the Bundesliga with Mainz before eventually getting his career back on track at FC København, winning the Danish Superliga title in 2019. The enigmatic winger – who won the last of his 21 Denmark caps in 2018 – is now a squad player for Royal Antwerp in Belgium’s top flight.
NINOS GOURIYE
A Dutch forward of Syrian descent, Gouriye started FM13 as a bargain signing from Eredivisie minnows Heracles Almelo. After grabbing 52 Bundesliga goals in four seasons at first Greuther Fürth and then VfB Stuttgart, he was picked up by the mighty Juventus, where the intelligent finisher is often used as an impact sub.
Gouriye certainly made an impact in 2012/2013, scoring nine goals for Heracles and helping them to a respectable 12th-place finish. This earned him a move to ADO Den Haag, but struggled with hamstring injuries and was released just two years later, following a loan spell at Stan Lee’s favourite soccer team – Excelsior!
Ninos later played four matches in Romania for Astra Giurgiu (sorry, West Ham fans) and also had a spell in the Danish second division with Vendsyssel. By 2020, he was trying his luck in Austria for First Vienna, but it appears that he meant nothing to them, because he was released after one solitary cup appearance. Unfortunately, his career seems to have hit a dead end.
VÍCTOR IBARBO
Here is yet another talented attacker whose FM career took him to Juventus. In this save, Ibarbo secured a very early transfer from Cagliari to CSKA Moscow, where the strong and quick Colombian became one of the Russian Premier League’s most-feared strikers. He joined Juve on a free transfer in 2021, scoring 13 seasons in his first season in Turin.
Ibarbo also enjoyed considerable success in another video game series, becoming hugely popular on FIFA 14’s Ultimate Team mode thanks to his 93 Pace. He wasn’t quite so prolific in reality, scoring a modest 15 Serie A goals for Cagliari between 2011 and 2017. During this time, he also had several loan spells, including playing four games for Watford during the first Quique Sánchez Flores era.
Though his Colombia international career stalled in 2016 after just 15 caps, he has still managed to carve out a decent living in Japan. He initially signed for J.League side Sagan Tosu in 2017 and now plays for second-division side V-Varen Nagasaki.
NICOLA LEALI
Before Gigio Donnarumma was a twinkle in an FM researcher’s eye, another Italian goalkeeper was donning the gloves for PSG. That man was Nicola Leali – a former Juventus youngster whose commanding presence and competent ball-handling made him a strong back-up to a certain Marc-André ter Stegen.
Leali had joined Juventus in 2012 after making 16 Serie B appearances for Brescia as a teenager. Considering that Gianluigi Buffon was still in his prime, it may not surprise you that Leali never got a chance to inherit the great man’s big gloves. Instead, his six seasons in Turin were spent on loan at seven different clubs – the last of which, Perugia, signed him permanently in 2018.
A year later, however, Leali was back on loan, having been sent to Ascoli for the last two years of his contract. He stuck around and signed permanently with Ascoli ahead of the 2021/2022 season, where he was a dependable number 1 as the Woodpeckers qualified for the Serie B play-offs. Woody would be proud.
LEANDRO DAMIÃO
In this fictional universe, Neymar wasn’t the undisputed talisman in Brazil’s frontline. He had to compete with Leandro Damião, an ice-cool fast-shooting striker who had scored over 150 goals and won every major with Barcelona since moving to Camp Nou.
Having scored 38 goals for Internacional in 2011, Leandro was rated incredibly highly – not least by his compatriot Ronaldo, who said he would “play a big part” at the 2014 World Cup. By 2014, however, he had already won his 17th and final Brazil cap – and after big-money moves to Tottenham and Napoli failed to materialise, he instead stayed in his homeland and joined Santos.
Leandro Damião flopped big-time at Santos, where he was upstaged by teenager Gabriel Barbosa, banned for pulling his own shirt to win a penalty, and even took his club to court over unpaid image rights! A move to Real Betis in 2016 also went badly, though he did find success on another continent. Since 2019, Leandro has been big in Japan, where he has won two J.League championships with Kawasaki Frontale and was the league’s joint-top scorer in 2021.
ADAM MAHER
Despite the name, Adam Maher is not a rugged Irish defender, but rather a flamboyant Dutch-Moroccan attacking midfielder. A product of AZ’s youth system, he spent five years at Manchester City before becoming a regular starter at Empoli, who on this save also had a big-money Arab takeover and are now one of Serie A’s top teams.
Maher’s real career wasn’t quite as lucrative. Yes, he did win five caps for the Netherlands between 2012 and 2013, but he didn’t quite stick around long enough to win a World Cup bronze medal in Brazil. He also made nearly 200 appearances in an 11-year Eredivise career, most notably winning back-to-back championships with PSV in 2015 and 2016.
Adam is now a 29-year-old defensive midfielder who should be in his prime, but where is he now? In July this year, he left the Netherlands behind and signed for Damac FC… in the Saudi Professional League. Ah, so he DID take the Arab money after all!
HERVIN ONGENDA
Many people who played FM13 will have fond memories of Ongenda. If you could sign this teenage striker from PSG, you’d wind up with a goal machine – perhaps an even better version than this one, who scored 24 Ligue 1 goals for Marseille in the 2021/2022 campaign.
Ongenda was supposed to be PSG’s first superstar after their big Qatari takeover in 2011, when the 16-year-old headed an exciting Parisian youth crop that also included Kingsley Coman and Adrien Rabiot. Though he made his senior debut in 2013, he understandably struggled to dislodge Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Edinson Cavani from the starting XI. His first Ligue 1 goal for PSG – scored against Lorient as late as November 2015 – was also his last.
Ongenda eventually lost patience with the management and left Paris for good in 2017. He has since embarked on a journeyman career in five different nations, which included TWO spells at the Romanian club FC Botoșani. Nowadays, he plays in Cyprus for Apollon Limassol, featuring in midfield alongside Sunderland legend… er, El Hadji Ba.
NICK POWELL
In July 2012, 18-year-old Nick Powell was the newest product from Crewe’s talent factory, having just fired the Railwaymen to victory in the League Two Play-Off Final. Manchester United snapped him up for £3million, and a decade later, he is now England’s midfield creator as well as being an integral player for… er, Manchester City.
The real Powell showed genuine promise at United, scoring on his Premier League debut for the eventual champions against Wigan in 2012, but things went off the rails after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement a year later. Fergie’s successors could not find a spot in their team for Powell, who was loaned out to Wigan for the 2013/2014 season and moved there permanently two years later following a sojourn in Hull.
Powell’s first full season back at the DW Stadium ended in relegation from the Championship, but he was soon reborn as a prolific number 10 and helped Wigan win the League One title in 2017/2018. Nick moved on in 2019 and is now in his fourth season at City – that’s Stoke City, who currently sit 15th in the Championship.
NICUŞOR STANCIU
Nicolae Stanciu – known in FM13 by his nickname ‘Nicușor’ – is basically a regenerated Gheorghe Hagi. A smart and technical attacking midfielder, the Romanian has been an inspiration for Manchester City since 2016. He won the PFA Player of the Year award in 2018, and just missed out on the 2021 Ballon d’Or to a certain Eden Hazard.
Stanciu started FM13 as a teenager at FC Vaslui in Romania’s top flight. His talent was noticed by Bucharest giants Steaua, with whom he was a league champion in 2014 and 2015. Although he never quite reached the elite European leagues, he still won additonal titles with both Anderlecht in Belgium (2017) and Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic (2020 and 2021).
At the start of this year, Stanciu went east for a new challenge, joining the fabulously-named Chinese Super League newcomers Wuhan Three Towns. At international level, he has 56 caps for Romania and captained the Tricolorii in their most recent fixtures. He sparked controversy in 2021 by refusing to ‘take the knee’ when Romania played England, in protest against a racism ban given to his Slavia team-mate Ondřej Kúdela.
ÁLVARO VADILLO
I am currently managing Real Betis on Football Manager 2023, and I wish I had this guy playing on the right wing. Vadillo came through Los Béticos’ academy and developed into one of the game’s top attacking talents, winning major honours with Manchester United, PSG and the Spanish national team.
But that’s what Vadillo might have become had it not been for injuries. In August 2014, the 19-year-old tore his cruciate ligament for the second time in his career – a recurrence of the injury he sustained against Real Madrid in 2011. His Betis career never recovered, and he joined Segunda Divisón side Huesca on a free transfer two years later.
Vadillo got another crack at La Liga with Granada in 2019/2020, and scored a penalty against Barcelona that briefly sent Los Nazaríes top of the table. Sadly, it didn’t last, and though Álvaro is now contracted to Espanyol, he has spent the last two seasons back on loan in the Segunda – first with Málaga, and more recently with Eibar.
RICARDO VAN RHIJN
And finally, we meet a flying Dutchman in the shape of right-back Ricardo van Rhijn. Having been developed by Ajax (duh), van Rhijn is great with both feet and has been almost ever-present for an Arsenal team that has won two Premier Leagues and two Champions Leagues (I wish). However, the 2021/2022 season was a disastrous one for the Gunners, and Ricardo is now seeking a transfer.
After 117 Eredivisie games for Ajax and eight caps for the Netherlands, van Rhijn did get a big transfer in 2016… to Club Brugge. Despite a promising start to his Belgian Pro League career, he soon found his way back home, playing another four seasons in the Eredivisie with AZ, Heerenveen and Emmen.
Following Emmen’s relegation in 2021, Ricardo moved to Germany and spent an unremarkable season in the 2. Bundesliga at Karlsruhe. Now a 31-year-old free agent, it appears that his career – at least at a premier level – might be over.
I know this post was a week later than I promised. Unfortunately, my computer has been having some technical issues for a few weeks now, which has somewhat limited the time I can give to blogging right now. Anyway, thank you for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed this post.
If there are any other FM13 wonderkids you would like to share your stories about, you can leave a comment below or tweet me @Fuller_FM.
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