As players of Championship Manager/Football Manager, we all love to look back at the wonderkids of the game. It gives us a tremendous feeling of nostalgia.
These players may or may not have made it in real life. However, we will sometimes have unhealthy attachments to them due to them helping us achieve glory in the game.
One of my personal favourite wonderkids will always be Argentinian striker Javier Saviola, who first appeared in Championship Manager 99/00 when he was just 17.
We recently wrote an article about our favourite wonderkids at the Higher Tempo, which included Saviola. However, I thought the forward deserved slightly more in-depth coverage (see unhealthy attachments!)
How does Javier Saviola fare on CM 99/00?
Some of our younger readers may not recognise the name or be familiar with Saviola. He was one of the stand-out wonderkids of the Championship Manager era.
When the game begins, Saviola is just 17 years of age and is still with his local club, River Plate. However, his impressive starting stats mean that he wasn’t usually with the Buenos Aires outfit for long.
His outstanding starting stats include 20 in acceleration, pace, technique, agility, determination and stamina. He also has 19 for flair.
For any player, those are incredible stats, but for a 17-year-old, they would be as rare as a cold Geordie.
His other stats improved as he played more games, and before long, he was the best striker in the game alongside the legend Andri Sigporsson, who we will no doubt look at in the future.
His outstanding stats were not the only draw for Saviola, though. As he played for River Plate, he was relatively cheap to sign – effectively a free spins for the club.
Even playing as a skint Everton (some things never change), I could afford him. The only problem was that you could never get a work permit for him if you were managing an English club.
That meant that he would end up going to one of the elite clubs, usually Barcelona or Real Madrid, if I remember rightly.
However, in those days, I enjoyed managing Barcelona, which is where I often got my Saviola fix. He was always outstanding and played a pivotal role in winning so many trophies.
If I signed him at Everton, it was usually five or six seasons in and generally for far more money than his price at the start of the game. He was always worth the money, though.
How did he fare in real life?
Saviola earned a reputation as a future star when he broke into the River Plate team at just 16.
He played for the Argentinian giants for three seasons, scoring 45 goals in 86 appearances. The youngster was so impressive at River that he won the South American Footballer of the Year at the age of just 18.
His performances persuaded Catalan giants Barcelona to part with a fee of £15m to acquire his services.
The Argentinian spent six years contracted to the Blaugrana. He enjoyed mixed fortunes in Catalonia and spent two of those years out on loan at Monaco and Sevilla.
Saviola started life at the Nou Camp in fine fashion by scoring 21 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions.
In the end, he played for the club in four campaigns, scoring a respectable 70 goals in 168 appearances in all competitions.
For most forwards, that would be a decent return. However, it was felt that Saviola never quite lived up to his potential.
His next permanent destination was a surprising one, as he joined Barca’s arch-rivals Real Madrid as a free agent on the expiration of his contract in Catalonia.
He stayed in the capital for two seasons, but he struggled for first-team football, making just 29 competitive appearances and scoring five goals for Los Blancos.
His next move was to Portuguese giants Benfica, who paid $5m to sign the forward. He stayed in Portugal for three seasons, scoring 39 goals in 120 appearances for the Eagles.
Then he had short stints at Malaga, Olympiakos and Verona. His career came full circle in 2015, as he ended his playing career with 13 games for River Plate, in which he failed to score. Saviola hung up his playing boots in 2016 at 34.
When he did call time on his playing career, there was a sense of what could have been for a player who showed such early promise.
What’s he been up to after football?
Saviola moved to Andorra after his playing career ended and got a job as the assistant manager at Primera Diviso club Ordino.
In February 2018, he also started playing Futsal and helped his team Encamp to win their provincial league title.
His last role in football was as the assistant manager of Barcelona’s under-19 team. However, he left the role in June 2023 after just a year in the job.
While Saviola still had a decent career, it would be fair to say that he could have achieved more in the game. Maybe the weight of his early breakthrough into first-team football caused him to burn out quicker than some players.
Whatever he does in life, for me, Javier Saviola will always be that wonderkid in my head, even if both of us have grown older and have slightly more grey hairs.
I will always be thankful for him causing me so much joy at a challenging point in my life. Muchas Gracias Javier.
What are your memories of Javier Saviola?
