The name Kai McKenzie-Lyle probably means nothing to you, right? Well, it's another case of Football Manager's huge success in discovering players and taking them to higher levels.
At just 18, Kai McKenzie-Lyle was already dreaming big: playing in the Premier League, the Champions League… like any kid. After starting his career at a young age at Tottenham, he ended up at Barnet FC in 2011, then in the English fourth tier (now the fifth), where he was only the third choice in goal. His ambitions seemed to have stalled.
But in September 2016 everything changed, thanks to Football Manager.
The discovery
The research assistants responsible for gathering information on Barnet discovered that the goalkeeper had Guyanese ancestry and could be called up by the South American national team.
The information reached the country's scout and federation general manager, Faisal Khan, who began following Kai McKenzie-Lyle in Barnet's pre-season training. In September 2016 came his first call-up, and the debut couldn't have gone better: as well as starting against Suriname, he even scored!
"I think they knew me from Football Manager, watched a few of my games and realised they could call me up. It was an incredible experience (…) It was the first goal of my career, a special moment. It was the craziest week of my career," the goalkeeper revealed in an interview with ESPN.com.br.
Two years later, by then 20, Kai McKenzie-Lyle signed for Liverpool FC in September 2018, joining the Reds' under-23 side.
A great turnaround in this goalkeeper's life, all because of FM!
