Revisiting Man Utd’s 10 wonderkids from FM 2013 a decade later

The mood at Manchester United was good when Football Manager 2013 was released back in early November 2012.

Sir Alex Ferguson was still at the helm and already had a healthy lead at the top of the table in their quest to knock the champions Manchester City off their perch. New signing Robin van Persie was banging in the goals and they’d eventually reclaim the Premier League title at a canter.

Not only that, but the club’s famous academy was continuing to produce a healthy batch of eye-catching youngsters as FM2013’s list of United wonderkids underlines. The future looked bright.

Things haven’t quite gone to plan, with a nine-year – and counting – wait for another league title since Ferguson retired in 2013. Few of their class of 2013 went on to quite reach their potential, either.

We’ve taken a look through the FM Scout database to pick out Manchester United’s 10 wonderkids from Football Manager 2013 and taken a look to see whether the real-life players have lived up to their early potential a decade later.

Sam Johnstone

The Carrington academy graduate was a regular for United’s Under-21s and Under-18s during Ferguson’s later years. He was named on the bench on a number of occasions during the 2012-13 campaign but never made a senior debut for his boyhood club.

After no fewer than 10 loan moves, he eventually departed Old Trafford in 2018. He joined West Brom and made a name for himself there, starring in their 2019-20 promotion and making the most saves of any Premier League goalkeeper as the Baggies suffered relegation in their first year back.

That form resulted in Johnstone receiving regular England call-ups, and at the time of writing, he’s received three caps for Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions.

Last summer he was linked with a romantic return to United following Dean Henderson’s loan departure. Instead, he joined Crystal Palace following the expiration of his contract at the Hawthorns.

Phil Jones

No sniggering. Jones genuinely looked one of the best young defenders in Europe in his early days at United.

Injuries reduced him to just 13 Premier League starts during the 2012-13 title-winning campaign, but the future looked bright as the club looked forward to a time beyond Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

Alright, the ‘new Duncan Edwards’ tag was always overstated and unhelpful, but you’d still have expected more. Jones has made just 13 appearances in the last four seasons and according to reports has been told by…