The ones that got away.

Jarrod

Thought I'd start a thread to remember the great youth prospects that never quite made it. Players who you'd sign first thing after starting a new game, safe in the knowledge that one day you'd have the world's greatest player on your hands. I'll get the ball rolling.

Joao Paiva - Portuguese striker in the early 00s, could be signed for a pittance from the lower leagues. Wiki tells me he now plays for Grasshopper Zurich.

Cherno Samba - Could be signed from Millwall at 15 and would start for most PL teams by the age of 17. Wiki tells me he's now a Gambia international and plays club ball in Norway.

Mika Aaritalo - Would be the difference between a lower mid table finish and battling to make it into Europe. Made it to Aston Villa for 18 months, never played and is now back in Finland.

Honourable mentions also go out to Stefan Selakovic, Labinot Harbuzi and Kennedy Bakircioglu. So, what other players did FM tip for greatness that didn't quite make it?

EdenHazard

Valeri Bojinov

Reganio 2

Jack Cork is one for me, ok he is doing well for himself with Southampton but for my Chelsea team he ripped it up played CB took the place of John Terry as captain and ripped the place apart got me to 2nd in the league keeping clean sheets pretty much every game (Him and a GK regen I had) in fairness his career has panned out the way I would have expected if I didn't manage him in FM

Jarrod

Good one. I remember when Ireland played Bulgaria in Lansdowne, would have been around 04/05 I think. Anyway he was in the Bulgaria squad, I think he was still playing for Lecce but was being linked with Barca. He scored the equaliser and I thought we were witnessing the next big thing. I was wrong.

retalivity

tonton zola moukoko, obviously

mark kerr
onesimo
to madeira (well....someone did!)

halpin17

lebohang mokoena top class player guided me to a champs league,prem league everything actually regardless of who i signed him for,injury has supposedly wrecked his career now and hes just floating around some south African club

confusicus

For me, the standout will always be Bojan Djordjic.

In the youth team at Man Utd in (I think) 00/01, this guy was amazing. More valuable to me than any transfer I ever made and I got him for around 400k.

According to wiki, he's club hopping a lot and has never done well at a club. Never made a senior national appearance either.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

Maxims Tsigalko So bad in real life he doesn't even exist!

gnfnrhead

Freddy Adu used to turn out to be a world beater. Hasn't happened for him but he is still fairly young so could come good.

dulpit

Anyone remember Mads Timm? Used to be on the Man Utd squad back in the CM time - young fella who used become worth a fortune...

According to wikipedia he's now playing in Denmark and didn't play any league games for United...

Patsy fyre

Harpel singh.
Was brilliant in the game and was the reason why Leeds sold Harry kewell so quickly.
Never made it though and wound up playing league of Ireland a few years ago afaik.

happyoutscan

Can't remember was it FM or CM but I do remember Daniel Galbraith looking like being a top player. He was great in the game but his real life career has been blighted by injuries. He's unattached now and still only 22.

WilcoOut

john welsh was always a good prospect back in the day

daniel bierofka never hit the height he did in CM

Easy Rod

Serge Makofo was an animal in one version I had, it must have been a glitch as he would have different positions in different games. One game I had he had the dream position of d/m/f (RLC). He now plays for Farnborough town

Kennedy Bakirouglu was another quality player, now plays for Hammarby.

There's so many in the game in fairness.

Necro

Supat Rungratsamee - picked him up for nothing in the 03-04 version of CM, was phenomenal within two seasons!!

SantryRed

Luke Chadwick was ridiculously good in CM 01/02. You could sell Giggs or Beckham for over 20m pounds and still be in a better position with Chadwick replacing one of them.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Edwin Congo - Machine

Now retired, finished his career in "Once Caldas", Could be signed from Madrid in one season 00' or 01' from their reserves.

TheDoc

Alexander Farnerud.

Bought him in every Championship manager, even into early iterations of Football manager.

You could buy him for pennies and he would quickly settle into a top tier club. He was best deployed as an attacking midfielder and would normally bag 20+ goals a season and his value would always be outragous. He came from a lower league team so he would even move and sign for lower tiered clubs in lower divisions, but would always end up being world class.

Currently knocking about for BSC Young Boys in Switzerland.

dulpit

TheDoc wrote: »

Alexander Farnerud.

Bought him in every Championship manager, even into early iterations of Football manager.

You could buy him for pennies and he would quickly settle into a top tier club. He was best deployed as an attacking midfielder and would normally bag 20+ goals a season and his value would always be outragous. He came from a lower league team so he would even move and sign for lower tiered clubs in lower divisions, but would always end up being world class.

Currently knocking about for BSC Young Boys in Switzerland.

Any good in FM 13? :pac:

brinty

back in the CM/FM days always played as Manchester United

Brought in Daniel Nardiello from youth team....scored a hat trick first game v liverpool..always good for 40+ goals a year..

He went on to captain my team and england and i won all round me...

Remember having him and Kluivert as my strikers in 00/01 or something and they bagged over 100+ seems small now in comparison to Messi bagging so many in a calender year

Marco delvecchio...got him from Roma and he could get ye 40+ too....from left back...a beast of a guy...

EdenHazard

delvechio was a striker tho from what i rememember tho, nah? maybe it is just one of those fm things like when rooney was 17 he had goalkeeper in his positions because he played there in training, but only fm researches know this stuff, so might be same with delvechio.

brinty

EdenHazard wrote: »

delvechio was a striker tho from what i rememember tho, nah? maybe it is just one of those fm things like when rooney was 17 he had goalkeeper in his positions because he played there in training, but only fm researches know this stuff, so might be same with delvechio.

That he was EdenHazard, but he was a player you could play anywhere, he covered every position, i moved him back in each season from Stk, to amc to mc/ml to lb...he was savagae and would go up and score from corners/frees etc...as i say a beast, never less than 7.5 in a game and always close to player of the year each season..

polarbearhead

going back to cm 97/98, anyone remember Jesper Ljung or Tommy Svindal Larsen? Both were top class midfielders that could be bought for a pittance. Dont think Ljung existed but TSL won a few caps for Norway

Jarrod

Mihaljo Pjanovic - Serbian striker but if you played him in the hole he'd bang them in.

Emile Mpenza on CM 01/02 was a serious goalscorer too.

MrKingsley

Jarrod wrote: »

Mihaljo Pjanovic - Serbian striker but if you played him in the hole he'd bang them in.

Now there is a blast from the past.

Always had kind words for Radoslaw Kalunzy aswell. Think it was the 01/02 game but the man was an absolute animal. Hed cost half a million maybe and be a starting DM for any team.

every time i saw him in real life i was just let down. That said he did play a hatful of games for poland

Sheepy99

anthony van den borre from anderlecht back when kompany was there too!

RobbieTheRobber

polarbearhead wrote: »

going back to cm 97/98, anyone remember Jesper Ljung or Tommy Svindal Larsen? Both were top class midfielders that could be bought for a pittance. Dont think Ljung existed but TSL won a few caps for Norway

I used to sign these both straight away.

Another player i used to sign with bigger clubs was Andrea Gasbarroni, an amazing winger in my 424 formations who made my strikers redundant.

Zaph

Necrominus wrote: »

Supat Rungratsamee - picked him up for nothing in the 03-04 version of CM, was phenomenal within two seasons!!

I had him and Anatoli Todorov up front. Between them they scored an absolutely ridiculous amount of goals.

Vito Corleone

Teixeira and Meechan in Championship Manager 2006. Two strikers who played for Forest Green. Could buy them for less than 100K. Their value never increased and despite scoring a crazy amount of goals each season they would never get international football or get any offers from other clubs.

Teixeira

Meechan now plays for Colwyn Bay and Teixeira plays for some lower league Portuguese side.

Seans_Username

halpin17 wrote: »

lebohang mokoena top class player guided me to a champs league,prem league everything actually regardless of who i signed him for,injury has supposedly wrecked his career now and hes just floating around some south African club

Tried to sign him several times on FM07 but feckin work permits always kept him in South Africa.

My suggestion would be Henri Saivet. French youth international with Bordeaux, had pace, skills, and a lovely free kick. In one of my games he was brilliant in the air and was able to get 30+ goals a season.
Still doing okay at Bordeaux but he had a lot of potential and I always thought he'd make it big

G.K.

Anatoli Todorov. What a guy.

Robbie Shields in 01/02 was some player too.

WilcoOut

are there any players in this bracket currently in FM13?

any potential fm/cm legends?!

Jarrod

Anyone remember Sherman Cardenas? Top quality Colombian midfielder around '05/'06. He'd start for most teams by the age of 17/18, now plays for a local club in Colombia, according to Wiki.

moose3844

Jarrod wrote: »

Anyone remember Sherman Cardenas? Top quality Colombian midfielder around '05/'06. He'd start for most teams by the age of 17/18, now plays for a local club in Colombia, according to Wiki.

I do I bought him every season and was one of the best players I would sign.

Felipe Anderson in FM13 is unreal, He has a relese clause for 5.25mill and will go to a championship team no problem for very small wages. Bangs in serious goals

budgie412

Andri Sigporsson, KR Rekjavik CM 00/01. Legend. Could get him on a free 6 months into first season and would always hit 30+ goals a season without fail. Retired through injury in 2004.

Comic Book Guy

Anyone remember Mark Smith a DRC at Bristol rovers in division 2, one of the early CM games maybe 00 01. Could be bought for pittance and put into any club side in the game and England international in few years.

I remember taking him to Juventus and him being part of club that won 7 titles in a row but he still only got a couple of B international caps, tossers!!!

IvySlayer

Comic Book Guy wrote: »

Anyone remember Mark Smith a DRC at Bristol rovers in division 2, one of the early CM games maybe 00 01. Could be bought for pittance and put into any club side in the game and England international in few years.

I remember taking him to Juventus and him being part of club that won 7 titles in a row but he still only got a couple of B international caps, tossers!!!

Kennedy Bakircioglü in that game.....I remember Liverpool buying him, absolutely wrecked the league he did. Moukoko and Aghahowa were amazing too :pac:

v3ttel

Some very good ones have already been mentioned (Saviet, Nardiello, Mokoena, Djorjic)....but Alexander Farnerud was one of my favourite FM/CM players ever. I managed to somehow get him to Sheffield Wednesday, finished a league season with 102 points. He was a God.

I can't remember what edition of Football Manager it was (possibly 2005), but basically, you could sign a future world star for all 11 positions on the pitch, for no more than 2 or 3 million. It had like Alessio Cerci, Evandro Roncatto, Freddy Guarin, Fredy William Thompson, Freddy Adu.....

I remember I actually decided to take control of my U19 team at the side, just to see them mercilessly a$$ pound the opposition.

There was one version of FM where you could raid IK Start, they had a load of young, talented players. I signed them up in Ligue 1, I bought Cesar Delgado (another FM legend), and Robert Lewandowski (from the Legia Warsaw reserves I believe). They promptly tore Lique 1 a new one.

Clemenza

Patsy fyre wrote: »

Harpel singh.
Was brilliant in the game and was the reason why Leeds sold Harry kewell so quickly.
Never made it though and wound up playing league of Ireland a few years ago afaik.

Was always brutal, got fast tracked to train with the senior squad as he was Asian and the club wanted to be seen in a good light after Bowyer and Woodgate played football with Sarfraz Najeibs head

Kneebreaker

Isaac Okoronkwo

Kenny?? Samura

Youssef Hersi

In Exile

I remember CM 00-01, you could pick up the Nigerian Mutiu on a free. Always lost him within a year to one of the big Italian clubs for huge money.

As for CM 01-02. At the start of every game, no matter where I was managing, it would be straight into the Swedish U21's and see how many I could pick up!

There was a list that was nearly seared into my brain of who to go after!

Others that haven't been mentioned(I think)
J Lunden
Ishizaki?
Pagguy Zunda
Michael Stewart (Man Utd)
Hadzimehdovic
Chiotis- Greek keeper
Assane N'Diaye

endabob1

halpin17 wrote: »

lebohang mokoena top class player guided me to a champs league,prem league everything actually regardless of who i signed him for,injury has supposedly wrecked his career now and hes just floating around some south African club

I still play FM2005 bought him for Coventry in the Chump, got promoted got the Liverpool job, brought him to Liverpool won 3 PL's in a row & 2 CL's
Top man.

Weirdly I now live in SA and he plays for a club called Mamelodi Sundowns here, but the standard is, not very good.....that's the most polite way I can say it!!

Dolph Starbeam

Ando's Saggy Bottom wrote: »

Maxims Tsigalko So bad in real life he doesn't even exist!

Oh but he does. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksim_Tsyhalka

Definitely my favorite ever CM player.


Julius Agahowa and Adres D'Allessandro deserve a mention also.

ThunbergsAreGo

The Paralta brothers from Guoiva (sp) in an earlir version of the game, FLC and FRC, perfect, one of them was alaways unbelievable and would sign for pretty much anyone

grohlisagod

John Bostock is a guy who always became a very good player in recent versions of the game. Doesn't look like it will happen for him in reality. Playing under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at Antwerp at the moment. Still only 21 though.