IT’S a funny old game…
Jimmy Greaves was of course talking about football when he uttered that famous phrase.
But I’m sure Football Manager players would agree it also works for the iconic video game.
The game’s producers have a tough ask scanning the globe and trying to get every single player in the game, from established superstars to unheard of youth team players from the furthest corners of the globe.
For every one they nail, there’s one they don’t.
Cherno Samba, Freddy Adu and Sherman Cardenas are some of the most famous FM flops from down the years.
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But what about “the next Cristiano Ronaldo”?
In 2006, a 14-year-old made history as the youngest player to feature in a professional game in Chile.
The player in question? Nicolas Millan.
If you’ve heard of him, I guarantee it’s because of Football Manager 2007.
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When FM07 came out, football fans were quick to snap up Millan for their team.
Not only was a 14-year-old a senior professional, but he’d also scored four times in just three games for Chile’s Under-17s.
Millan was a goal-scoring beast in the game – if you could get a work permit for him.
Gamers would confidently claim Millan would score between 50 and 75 goals per season. Not bad for less than £1million.
Unfortunately for our “next Cristiano Ronaldo” – called that for his love of stepovers – he’s not even managed 50 goals in his entire, 17-year career.
Millan burst onto the scene at Colo Colo, making his debut aged 14 in 2006.
At the time, both Chelsea and Everton were linked with offering the forward a trial – but neither came to fruition.
In fact, he only ever played one more match for the Chilean side and was loaned out to Rivadavia de Lincoln, Tigre and Naval.
He failed to play, let alone score, in his first two stints away, but began to find some rhythm at Naval, where he scored six times in 48 games.
In 2013, he was sold to Union Temuco, scoring three times in 11 games before moving on to Curico Unido later that year.
After just five goals in 46 games, he moved on to Puerto Montt, Pintana and Copiapo between 2015 and 2019 – scoring a combined 14 times in 111 games.
Between 2020-21, he struggled through 26 goalless games, before moving on to Independiente Cauquenes – scoring once in 17 matches.
In 2022, he played 10 times for General Pico – failing to trouble the scorers.
At the age of 31, Millan plays for Chilean second tier side Iberia.
Well, he’s on the books of the club. He’s not actually played yet.
Regardless, it’s a small step up in class for Millan, who had play for seven third-tier sides before moving to Iberia.
It’s hard to know what’s more remarkable: whether he’s managed fewer goals in 17 years than he did in a single season as a teenager on FM07, or the fact he has never cost a single penny in real life.
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Millan has only ever moved on to a new club on loans or a free transfer.
What a fall from grace for such a promising talent.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
