If you have played Football Manager or its previous iteration, Championship Manager, as long as I have (nearly 30 years, yes, I am old), you collect an always useful collection of wonderkids in your memory.
One of the positions I most like wonderkids in is goalkeeper. You can sign a goalkeeper in his late teens or early 20s, and you don’t have to worry about the position for a decade.
Many goalkeeping wonderkids live in my memory. Here are a few of my favourites:
Andreas Isaksson
I remember the Swedish goalkeeper as a wonderkid in CM 01/02. I think he was playing for Djurgarden in his homeland when I used to sign him.
He was a brilliant young goalkeeper who would only get better season after season. I also remember him being relatively cheap.
In real life, he started his career with Trelleborg before earning a big move to Italian giants Juventus. He failed to make a first-team appearance for the Bianconeri mainly due to the presence of Dutch goalkeeping icon Edwin van der Sar.
He moved back to Sweden with Trelleborg, where he impressed enough to earn a switch to Rennes in 2004. He replaced Chelsea-bound Petr Cech in the sticks for the French club.
Isaksson had a short-lived stay at Manchester City before joining Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, where he enjoyed four years. He moved on to Turkish club Kasimpasa, for who he once again played for four seasons. He ended his playing career at his former club, Djurgarden.
Isaksson had a decent career, but it is fair to say that he never quite lived up to his potential of CM 01/02.
Oscar Ustari
The Argentinian first came to prominence in FM07. He was a genuine bargain wonderkid. At just 19 at the start of the game, you could pick him up for a fee of around £2m from Independiente.
Not only did he sign for a bargain fee, but his wages were usually ridiculously low by top-flight player standards. The best thing about Ustari was that he could get into most teams on the game, even at 19.
Like with many CM/FM wonderkids, he couldn’t live up to his immense potential in real life.
He played for his country twice, but the most games he played at a club was with Mexican outfit Pachuca from 2019 until 2023, when he made 124 appearances for the club.
At the time of writing, he is contracted to MLS outfit Inter Miami. However, he has only made one appearance for the Florida outfit.
Igor Akinfeev
This name will be highly familiar to those who played FM07. The Russian goalkeeper barely scraped into the category of wonderkid, as he was 22 when FM07 was released.
However, it would be harsh to omit the CSKA Moscow legend from our list, as his stats were unbelievable for such a young player.
Akinfeev would be the sort of player you would keep till his late 30s, even if, like me, you are the sort of manager to sell any player approaching their 30s. He would give you at least ten good years of service.
In real life, Akinfeev has been fiercely loyal to CSKA, as he is still with the Russian outfit at the time of writing. Incredibly, he has made 781 appearances for the club from the country’s capital.
During his time with CSKA, he has won the Russian Premier League on six occasions, the Russian Cup seven times and also the UEFA Cup in season 2004/05.
Although Akinfeev didn’t play outside his homeland, it would be hard to say that his career hasn’t been successful, especially as he has multiple domestic trophies and European silverware. He also won 111 caps for his country, appearing at major international tournaments.
Dionysis Chiotis
The Greek stopper was one of the bargain-buy wonderkids of CM 01/02, as he could be bought from AEK Athens for a knockdown fee of less than £1m if I remember rightly.
Like most of the goalkeepers on our list, he could join most clubs in the game and become first choice. If he weren’t first choice right away, then he would be after a few seasons.
He could be in your team for a decade or more, and you wouldn’t have to worry about signing another goalkeeper.
Unfortunately for Chiotis, he never did manage to hit the same heights in real life as he did on Championship Manager.
He spent from 1994 until 2007 at AEK Athens but was often backup goalkeeper. In fact, he made just 85 appearances for the Greek giants.
Chiotis had short spells at other clubs. However, the club he made the biggest impact at was Cypriot club APOEL, where he made 112 appearances from 2008 to 2015. He also made just one appearance for the Greek national team in 2002.
Despite his relative lack of first-team action during his career, he still won plenty of silverware. With AEK Athens, he won the Greek Cup on three occasions, as well as the Greek Super Cup in 1996.
However, it was while he was with APOEL that he enjoyed the most trophy-laden period of his career. While in Cyprus, he won the Cypriot First Division on five occasions, the Cypriot Cup twice, and the Cypriot Super Cup four times.
Like with Akinfeev, it would be hard to criticise Chiotis’ career, even if his real-life achievements didn’t meet the crazy expectations of Championship Manager.
Who were your favourite goalkeeping wonderkids over the years?
