Ten years have passed since the release of Football Manager 2015, prompting us to check in on what became of Manchester City’s much-hyped wonderkids from that particular edition of the wildly popular football management simulation game.

The likes of Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure were in their prime under Manuel Pellegrini. There were also several much-hyped youngsters emerging after serious investment in the academy set-up.

Having picked them out via the FMScout archives, here are City’s dozen wonderkids from Football Manager 2015 – and where they’re at a decade later.

Jason Denayer

Denayer never quite fulfilled his potential either at City or as the successor to Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld for Belgium, but he’s still had a solid career.

The defender won the Turkish Super Lig title with Galatasaray in 2017-18 and made over 100 appearances for Lyon, featuring for the Ligue 1 side as they memorably dumped out City en route to the 2019-20 Champions League semi-finals.

Still only 29, Denayer is playing in Saudi Arabia with Al Fateh.

Karim Rekik

Dutch defender Rekik joined City’s set-up in 2011 and made a small handful of appearances under Roberto Mancini amid loans away to Portsmouth, Blackburn and PSV.

He went on to earn four caps for the Netherlands and notched over 100 matches across Europe’s major leagues with Marseille, Hertha Berlin and Sevilla.

He now plays for Al-Jazira in the United Arab Emirates.

Chidiebere Nwakali

Nwakali’s career has followed a similar trajectory to many other promising wonderkids of yesteryear; no first-team appearances for his parent club, numerous loan spells away, a quiet exit to a European club, country-hopping for years before settling in the Middle East.

The Nigerian defender is playing Al-Sahel in the Saudi Second Division. Figures.

Rodney Kongolo

By the time of his departure from Manchester City in 2018, Kongolo failed to make a first-team breakthrough and made no first-team appearances for the side.

He’s spent the rest of his career in continental Europe, playing for Italian outfit Cosenza and both Heerenveen and Roda JC in the Netherlands.

Kongolo is currently with Roda and has scored once in 42 appearances for the club.

Seko Fofana

Fofana was a key member of the Ivory Coast side that overcame a dodgy start to win this year’s Africa Cup of Nations and is widely regarded as a fine midfielder.

Such quality often falls through the gaps at City – the competition is fierce – but learning that Fofana isn’t playing elsewhere in Europe was a surprise for a player of his quality.

The 29-year-old midfielder swapped Lens for Al Nassr in 2023, but has been loaned out to Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq after struggling to make much of an impact in Saudi Arabia.

Brandon Barker

Unlike many on this list, Barker has actually played for City. His sole appearance for the club came as a substitute in a 5-1 FA Cup defeat to Chelsea in February 2016.

But the majority of his time at City was spent out on loan (four in total) and was eventually sold to Rangers in 2019.

The midfielder has enjoyed a nomadic career since then, including spells with Oxford, Reading, Omonia and Morecambe, but is currently unattached after leaving the final of those clubs at the end of the 2023-24 season.

READ NEXT: Where are they now? The 14 Man City teenagers given PL debuts by Pep Guardiola

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player with 15+ Premier League goals for Man City?

Javairo Dilrosun

Despite his quality, Dilrosun failed to make an appearance for City before being sold to Hertha Berlin in 2018.

The winger performed admirably for the Bundesliga outfit, as well as Bordeaux and Feyenoord, before moving to Mexico and joining Club America in 2024.

He also has one cap for the Netherlands, won in 2018 and helped the Dutch earn a 2-2 draw with Germany, but has switched his allegiance to Suriname and aims to help them reach the 2026 World Cup.

QUIZ: Can you name Man City’s top goalscorer from every Premier League season?

Rony Lopes

Listed as Marcos Lopes on FM2014, the Portuguese attacking midfielder was another part of that small army of youngsters that City recruited in the early 2010s.

Signed from Benfica originally, Lopes scored on his professional debut – off the bench in a 3-0 FA Cup victory over Watford in January 2013. But only four cup appearances followed before he left in search of first-team opportunities elsewhere.

An eclectic career has seen Lopes finish runner-up in four French cups with Lille and Monaco, win a Europa League with Sevilla and the Greek Super League with Olympiacos.

Nowadays he plays in Turkey for Alanyaspor.

Olivier Ntcham

Following in the footsteps of Paul Pogba, Riyad Mahrez and Dimitri Payet out of Le Havre’s famous academy, Ntcham continued his early development in City’s youth teams between 2015 and 2017.

The attacking midfielder never made a professional first-team appearance for City and went on to play for Celtic, Marseille and Swansea.

These days he’s turning out for Samsunspor. We’ve done enough of these pieces to realise all roads lead to Turkey for former wonderkids.

Thierry Ambrose

Guadeloupe international Ambrose joined City’s academy from Auxerre in 2013 but never progressed to make his debut amid a series of loans away. Rinse and repeat.

The forward is currently turning out for Belgian club Kortrijk.

Kelechi Iheanacho

Iheanacho was highly rated at City, but the striker fell behind Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus in the pecking order and joined Leicester for £25million in 2017.

He was instrumental in the Foxes’ FA Cup success in 2021, but eventually left the club after their relegation in 2023 and now plays for Sevilla.

Jose Angel Pozo

Pozo was a key member of Andoni Iraola’s promotion-winning Rayo Vallecano side and made over 100 appearances for the Madrid-based outfit.

The attacking midfielder actually made three Premier League appearances, including one start, for City in the unmemorable 2014-15 campaign. But he left for Almeria in 2015 in search of more regular game time.

He now plays in Cyprus for Karmiotissa.

The Lagos State Government has announced the closure of 11 key roads on Lagos Island and Victoria Island for the Lagos Women Run, to be held on Saturday,October 9.

In a statement issued on Thursday, November 7, the state Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, said that in view of the annual Lagos Women Run, the Lagos State Government had implemented a traffic diversion plan to facilitate smoother movement for motorists during the event.

“During the event, the race route, starting from Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) inwards Water Board, Old NITEL, Outer Marina, Bonny Camp Bridge, Ahmadu Bello Way, Akin Adesola Street, Falomo Bridge, Falomo Roundabout, Awolowo Road, and Onikan Roundabout to Mobolaji Johnson, would be partially closed,” he said.

Consequently, Osiyemi explained that alternative routes had been designated to ease commuting.

He advised motorists heading to the Third Mainland Bridge from Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue to go via Bonny Camp, connecting Onikan Underpass towards Marina Exit to access Force Road, linking Outer Marina and the Third Mainland Bridge to reach their destinations.

“Motorists heading to Ikoyi Road from Apongbon are to use Odunlami Street to connect Igbosere Road and continue to Moloney Street to access Ikoyi Road for their journeys. There was minimal impact on traffic flow within these routes,” he added.

The Commissioner reiterated that all junctions and intersections from Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) to the destination, Mobolaji Johnson Arena, would be blocked with barriers and staff by LASTMA, NPF, FRSC, and LSNC officials to prevent other road users from accessing the main race corridor and to minimise inconvenience for motorists and athletes.

“Motorists are implored to be patient, as the partial road closure is part of the traffic management plans for the race event highlighted,” he said

Robert Lewandowski has garnered widespread acclaim for his remarkable display in Barcelona’s recent UEFA Champions League triumph over Crvena Zvezda.

The Polish striker was unstoppable, netting twice in the 5-2 dismantling of the Serbian side on Wednesday night.

Lewandowski strikes twice as Barcelona thump Crvena

In classic poacher fashion, Lewandowski opened his account by capitalising on a rebound from Raphinha’s shot, which had rattled off the post.

According to Barca Blaugranes, the goal, coming just before the break, doubled Barcelona’s advantage.

Despite missing a few other promising chances, Lewandowski made no mistake when Jules Kounde delivered a pinpoint cross, allowing him to slot home his second of the night.

https://twitter.com/SSFootball/status/1854265373912162531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1854265373912162531%7Ctwgr%5Eb585b13297846a638d1d864a22f5cc6d6e5a2735%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tuko.co.ke%2Fsports%2Ffootball%2F568208-mbappe-robert-lewandowski-receives-high-praise-reaching-99-ucl-goals%2F

Raphinha, whose relentless pressing and dribbling added a dynamic edge to the Catalans’ attack, also found the back of the net before making way for a substitution.

With his brace, Lewandowski has now tallied an impressive 99 Champions League goals, per Fabrizio Romano, trailing only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time scoring charts.

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1854271121064919483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1854271121064919483%7Ctwgr%5Eb585b13297846a638d1d864a22f5cc6d6e5a2735%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tuko.co.ke%2Fsports%2Ffootball%2F568208-mbappe-robert-lewandowski-receives-high-praise-reaching-99-ucl-goals%2F

Fans sing Lewandowski’s praises

His stellar performance ignited a wave of admiration on social media, with fans quick to laud his enduring quality and prolific nature.

TUKO.co.ke compiled some of the notable reactions:

@_FaridKhan asserted:

“Better than Mbappe.”

@Miss_Jasmine_1 extolled:

“Best striker in the world right now… no one comes close.”

@ChanceDaMayor remarked:

“Lewandowski setting his own records. Better than Mbappe.”

@scolaridaniels celebrated:

“Best striker super, man warrior.”

@Gemedia_ wrapped up the sentiment, simply stating:

“He is him.”

Lewandowski’s performance reminds fans that, even at 36, his instinct in front of goal remains as sharp as ever, proving crucial to Barcelona’s ambitions on Europe’s grandest stage.

Lewandowski equals Messi’s La Liga record

A previous report by TUKO.co.ke highlighted that Robert Lewandowski continues to display remarkable scoring consistency, keeping pace with Lionel Messi’s records.

After scoring against Valladolid, Lewandowski reached four goals in his first four league matches, a milestone last achieved by Messi.

Lewandowski chooses between Messi and Ronaldo

In a related report, TUKO.co.ke noted that Robert Lewandowski offered a unique perspective on the enduring Messi-Ronaldo debate.

Despite fans keeping the rivalry alive as both stars approach the end of their careers, Lewandowski avoided choosing between them.

Instead, in 2021, he playfully suggested himself as the best.