One thing that everyone who plays Football Manager looks for is a wonderkid or two.

There’s nothing better than searching a cheap, young prospect, only to watch him develop into the next Lionel Messi.

Ah, what a feeling.

There are a number of players who are listed as wonderkids in the game but they go on to have mediocre careers. Cherno Sambo, for example, was the first player everyone bought in Football Manager 2001-02 - he was a striker who never stopped scoring - but his professional career saw him play for Millwall, Cadiz, Haka and Panetolikos, to name a few of his unsuccessful stops.

Every edition of Football Manager has plenty of wonderkids. So it makes it enjoyable to look back to see just how they fared in real life.

GiveMeSport has a look at 50 wonderkids from Football Manager 2007 to see how their careers panned out, courtesy of FM Scout.

Alexis Sanchez | Udinese | 18-years-old

Now: Arsenal

Anderson | Porto | 18

Now: Internacional (on loan at Coritiba)

Anthony Vanden Borre | Anderlecht | 18

Now: TP Mazembe

Aythami | Las Palmas | 20

Now: Las Palmas

Carlos Vela | Arsenal | 17

Now: Real Sociedad

Daniel Agger | Liverpool | 21

Now: Retired

Eduardo Ratinho | Corinthians | 18

Now: GO Audax

Ezequiel Lavezzi | San Lorenzo | 21

Now: Hebei China Fortune

Francisco Guillermo Ochoa | Club America | 20

Now: Málaga

Freddy Adu | D.C. United 17

Now: Without a club

Fredy Guarin | Envigado | 20

Now: Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC

Hugo Rodallega | Atlas | 20

Now: Trabzonspor

Igor Akinfeev | CSKA Moscow | 20

Now: CSKA Moscow

Jo | CSKA Moscow | 19

Now: Corinthians

John Obi Mikel | Chelsea | 19

Now: Tianjin TEDA

Jonathan de Guzman | Feyenoord | 18

Now: Napoli (on loan at Chievo)

Leandro Lima | Sao Caetano | 18

Now: Fortaleza Esporte Clube

Lebohang Mokoena | Orlando Pirates | 19

Now: Ajax Cape Town

Leighton Baines | Wigan Athletic | 21

Now: Everton

Libis Arenas | Lazio | 19

Now: Libis Arenas

Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 19

Now: Barcelona

Lucas | Gremio | 19

Now: Liverpool

Lucas Biglia | Anderlecht | 20

Now: Lazio

Luizao | Cruzeiro | 19

Now: Boca Raton

Luka Modric | Dinamo Zagreb | 20

Now: Real Madrid

Manuel Fernandes | Benfica | 19

Now: Lokomotiv Moscow

Marcelo | Fluminense | 18

Now: Real Madrid

Micah Richards | Manchester City | 18

Now: Aston Villa

Michel Schmoller | Figueirense | 16

Now: Bangu

Nani | Sporting Lisbon | 19

Now: Valencia

Omar Esparza | Chivas | 18

Now: Tampico Modero

Oscar Ustari | Independiente | 20

Now: Atlas

Patricio Araujo | Chivas | 18

Now: Puebla

Pedro Junior | Vila Nova | 19

Now: Kashima Antlers

Per Ciljan Skjelbred | Rosenborg | 19

Now: Hertha Berlin

Rafinha | Schalke | 20

Now: Bayern Munich

Raul Garcia | Osasuna | 19

Now: Athletic Bilbao

Renato Augusto | Flamengo | 18

Now: Beijing Guoan

Salomon Kalou | Chelsea | 20

Now: Hertha Berlin

Sergio Aguero | Atletico Madrid | 18

Now: Manchester City

Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid | 20

Now: Real Madrid

Sherman Cardenas | Bucaramanga | 16

Now: Atletico Nacional (on loan at Vitoria)

David Silva | Valencia | 20

Now: Manchester City

Simon Vukcevic | Saturn Ramenskoye | 20

Now: Free agent

Steven Taylor | Newcastle United | 20

Now: Ipswich Town

Theo Walcott | Arsenal | 18

Now: Arsenal

Thiago Ribeiro | Sao Paolo | 20

Now: Santos

Valeri Bojinov | Juventus/Fiorentina | 20

Now: Meizhou Hakka

Vincent Kompany | Hamburg SV | 20

Now: Manchester City

Yoann Gourcuff | AC Milan | 19

Now: Rennes