10 Football Manager Legends Who Flopped In Real Life
8. Kerlon
In the game:
Another prodigiously talented teenager from Football Manager 2006, this silky skilled attacking midfielder could be bought cheap from Cruzeiro and would soon be living up to his billing as the next Ronaldinho.
In reality:
Something of a YouTube sensation in the video sharing platform's early days, Kerlon's signature trick - the seal dribble - made his name familiar to fans around the world. An all-conquering performance as Player Of The Tournament at the 2005 Under-17 South American Championship also helped.
All of that led Kerlon to his dream move to a top European club when he joined Inter Milan in 2008. His meteoric rise to the top stopped there, though.
Subject to a complicated joint ownership situation and ultimately deemed surplus to requirements by Inter boss Jose Mourinho, Kerlon's stock dropped rapidly from a loan spell at Ajax to playing in the Japanese third division. In the decade after joining Inter, he played briefly in the US, Malta, Slovakia and Japan, racking up a total of just 51 appearances.
Always small and slight and subject to numerous hacks and kicks from defenders for his tricky ball play, Kerlon spent much of his short career injured. After six knee surgeries and a further two on his ankle, he hung up his boots in 2017.
Still just 32, today the seal dribble maestro can be found back in the States, coaching kids too young to remember his video game fame.