Kai McKenzie-Lyle, a 20-year-old goalkeeper born in Haringey, London, and a Tottenham academy product, signed for Liverpool in September 2018 after impressing on trial with the reserves.
It would be an ordinary story, if not for one detail: Kai is a Guyana international, and he got into the national team because of Football Manager.
How it happened
In 2016, aged 18 and playing for modest Barnet, he was called up for Caribbean Cup qualifying. All because Football Manager researchers discovered that he could represent Guyana, then ranked 182nd by FIFA.
They contacted the national team’s chief scout, Faisal Khan, who put the young goalkeeper’s name on the list of eligible players. The first call-up came soon after, and Kai started.
Later, Kai himself summed it all up to ESPN: “I think they found me through Football Manager, watched some of my games and realized they could call me up. It was an incredible experience. It was the craziest week of my career.”
And the story gets even better: on his debut, against Suriname, he scored a header. In his second game, against Jamaica, he saved a penalty.
On the way to Anfield
After loan spells at Cockfosters, St Ives Town and Hayes & Yeading, he joined Liverpool’s under-23 pre-season training. He even played in a 1-1 draw with Győri ETO, the club where Miklós Fehér came through before moving to Portugal.
At 2.01 m, he is a real giant between the posts. We will follow his career closely, but one thing is already proven: Football Manager is an excellent scouting tool. Have you ever discovered a real player thanks to the game?
Read also