Football Manager 2012 came out in October 2011, and many of us still remember the youngsters we bought in every save. Fourteen years have passed since. So we looked at what happened to the most famous FM2012 wonderkids: who reached the top, who stopped halfway and who never lived up to what the game promised. And, of course, we also went looking for the Portuguese ones.
Phil Jones and Neymar, two FM2012 wonderkids with very different fates (Image: SPORTbible)
The ones who delivered
First, the ones SI got right. Some were obvious, but others not so much:
- Neymar (Santos): he played for Barcelona, PSG and Al Hilal, and won the Champions League. However, a serious knee injury in 2023 slowed him down, and he is now back at Santos.
- Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea): in FM2012 he was on loan at Atlético. Then he became Chelsea’s number one, and he has been at Real Madrid since 2018.
- Marc-André ter Stegen (Borussia Mönchengladbach): he was Barcelona’s number one for eight years and won 20 trophies. Still, in early 2026 he was on loan at Girona.
- Christian Eriksen (Ajax): he shone at Tottenham and Inter, and returned to football after his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020. He now plays for Wolfsburg.
- Raheem Sterling (Liverpool): he scored 123 Premier League goals and reached the Euro 2020 final. Then he moved to Feyenoord.
- Paul Pogba (Manchester United): he won the 2018 World Cup. But his doping ban stalled the end of his career, and he has barely played at Monaco.
The ones who stopped halfway
Next, there are those who had good careers, just below what the game promised:
- Mario Götze (Borussia Dortmund): he scored the goal that won Germany the 2014 World Cup. But he never reached that level again, and he is now a solid midfielder at Eintracht Frankfurt.
- Xherdan Shaqiri (Basel): he played for Bayern, Inter and Liverpool, mostly as a backup. So he ended up back at Basel.
- Erik Lamela (Roma): he made over 250 appearances for Tottenham, with a memorable rabona goal. He retired in 2025, at 33.
- Oscar (Internacional): he won the Premier League with Chelsea and then spent seven years in China. Finally, in 2025, he left football for medical reasons.
- Kurt Zouma (Saint-Étienne): injuries held him back at Chelsea, but he won the Conference League with West Ham. He now plays in the UAE.
- Jordan Ayew (Marseille): he was not the goalscorer people expected, but he had a long Premier League career with Crystal Palace and Leicester.
Our verdict on the FM2012 wonderkids
The ones who fell short
Finally, the disappointments. In several cases, injuries were to blame rather than talent:
- Jack Wilshere (Arsenal): at 19 he was in the Premier League Team of the Year. Then an ankle fracture cost him the 2011/12 season and he was never the same again. He retired at 30 and is now a coach.
- Phil Jones (Manchester United): a terrible run of injuries wrecked his career. He retired in 2025 and is a coach at Blackburn.
- Yaya Sanogo (Auxerre): he joined Arsenal amid big expectations, but only played a handful of games. After that, he moved to Toulouse, Armenia and China.
- Adryan (Flamengo): on loan at Leeds in 2014, he became better known for a dive than for his goals. In 2024 he was playing in Brazil’s fourth tier.
- Carlos Fierro (Chivas): an Under-17 world champion with Mexico in 2011, he never made it to Europe or the senior national team.
What about the Portuguese?
The most talked-about Portuguese name in FM2012 was Nélson Oliveira, Benfica’s striker. In other words, he was the striker many of us bought as Portugal’s future number nine. In real life, he became an international and went to Euro 2012, but his career was mostly loans and moves: Rio Ave, Paços de Ferreira, Deportivo, Rennes, Swansea, Norwich, Reading, AEK, PAOK, Konyaspor and Vitória de Guimarães. Finally, for 2026/27, he signed for Farense in the second tier.
Nélson Oliveira for Portugal in 2013. Photo: Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
There is also a curious link to Portugal. Eliaquim Mangala had just joined FC Porto when FM2012 came out, and he was one of the most wanted centre-backs in the game. Later, Manchester City paid a lot for him, but his spell in England did not go well.
Our take
Looking back, SI got a lot right: Neymar, Courtois, ter Stegen and Eriksen became stars. Still, the list also shows what the game cannot predict, such as the injuries of Wilshere and Phil Jones. So next time you buy a wonderkid in FM27, remember: potential is a promise, not a guarantee. And if you want to start now, see our top 50 young players in FM27.
Sources
- SPORTbible, 30 March 2026
- InsideSport, April 2020
- Planet Football, February 2022
- Portuguese press on Nélson Oliveira’s career
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