Top 5 World-Class Players Who Were Underrated by Football Manager

Although Football Manager is scarily accurate in gauging player abilities, it does have slip-ups here and there.

Sometimes the game has sky-high expectations of a player, only for him to become very average or vice versa. This list contains 5 players underrated by the Football Manager engine but broke their ceiling to end up being world-class footballers.

1. Jamie Vardy

Back in 2010, Vardy was an eager 21-year-old who played for Stocksbridge Park Steels in the lower echelons of English Football. A season later, he moved to Halifax FC and later to Fleetwood Town. Barely anyone outside of managers managing low tiered English teams had heard of Vardy. FM gave Vardy very ordinary stats with not a great ceiling.

A few years later, Vardy now has a PL title with Leicester, a PL Footballer of the year award and several individual honours to go with it. He has represented England 26 times and scored 7 goals for his country. His growth has been so phenomenal that there have been talks about a movie being made about Vardy's life. This is one footballer that developers of Football Manager massively underrated who ended up becoming world-class.

2. N'Golo Kante

In the FM 2013 version of the game, N'Golo Kante had just signed for Caen in the French League and was a very average playmaker. He barely had any room for growth and never really blossomed in most Football Manager saves, often ending his career in the lower tiers of French football.

In August 2015, Kante joined Leicester for a fee reported to be around £5.5m after being thoroughly scouted by the legendary Steve Walsh, who was also responsible for bringing in players like Vardy, Mahrez, Didier Drogba and Erling Haaland. This proved to be the turning point in Kante's career, and he helped Leicester clinch an unlikely PL title that very same year. After he moved to Chelsea, he helped them win the league title and was crowned the PFA Footballer of the year. Today, Kante is one of the best Box to Box Players globally and is highly sought after by multiple clubs. It's safe to say now the game definitely underrated his potential big time.

READ ALSO: 5 Times Football Manager Got It Right

3. Mohamed Salah

From the 2012-2013 versions of Football Manager, Salah was never rated highly as a winger. He always had the pace and acceleration in the game, but his technical attributes were never really good, and his potential was also not very high. There was a small boost to his stats after his transfer to Chelsea, but it died down ever since he failed to make it into the squad and was transferred to Italian side Roma.

A couple of years later, Salah is now one of the best players in the Premier League and in the world. The game engine also reflects this fact, and he has mindboggling numbers making him easily one of the best players in FM22. His finishing from being in the single digits in his early days is around 18 (18/20) now, making him an extremely lethal goalscorer. He has also delivered a Champion's League for Liverpool and has helped the Reds break their league title drought of 30 years.

4. Robert Lewandowski

In 2010, Lewandowski was the subject of a £4m transfer from Lech Poznan to Borussia Dortmund. There were several doubts about his ability to perform in the Bundesliga, with many fearing that he may be too frail to ever work in the league. Football Manager also reflected this; Lewa had poor physical attributes and low potential ability.

Fast forward a few years, and Lewandowski has absolutely ripped the Bundesliga apart. He has several titles with Dortmund & Bayern Munich and a plethora of individual honours. He is one of the most accomplished strikers in the world and is in hot contention to challenge for the Ballon d'Or in 2021/2022. His in-game attributes reflect this now, with Lewandowski having extremely high finishing and composure and is easily one of the best strikers in the game.

READ ALSO: 5 Times Football Manager Got it Wrong

5. Andrew Robertson

In FM15 and FM16, Robertson was a young Scottish left-back at Hull looking to break into the Premier League. Unlike some others on this list, he did have some room for growth and would end up as a decent left-back for lower mid-table Premier League sides. However, his growth was still limited, and he was never even close to being called world-class.

His career took off, and he never looked back after switching to Liverpool in 2017. He displaced Alberto Moreno to become the main left-back for the club and helped them win the UCL and a domestic league title. His attacking runs and crosses are vital for Liverpool, and he has cemented his place as one of the most important cogs of Klopp's wheel. His Football Manager attributes have also had a major revamp, with Robertson now being one of the best left-backs in the game in terms of Current & Potential ability. He is also one of the players that the game definitely did not rate very highly but ended up becoming world-class nonetheless.