Where are they now? Bayern Munich’s four wonderkids from Football Manager 2014
Bayern Munich were on top of the world when Football Manager 2014 was released almost a decade ago. The Bavarian giants were the reigning German and European champions after Jupp Heynckes had led them to a historic treble the season prior and era-defining tactician Pep Guardiola had taken the reins.
The new boss led Bayern to retain their Bundesliga style in relentless style and they completed a domestic double after besting old rivals Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal final, but they suffered a disappointing Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
Guardiola was blessed with four ‘wonderkids’ (via FM Scout) during his debut season. We’ve checked in on how the German club’s highly-rated youngsters fared in real life over the past 10 years and where they are today.
Ylli Salahi
“I want to develop my career in a big club,” declared the left-back after leaving Austrian club to join Bayern as a 16-year-old back in 2011.
Salahi developed his skills in Bayern’s famous Sabaner Strasse academy and became a regular in their B Team before making his senior Bundesliga debut in Bayern’s heavily-rotated XI for a 1-0 defeat to Augsburg after the title had already been wrapped up in April 2014.
That proved to be his one and only appearance for the club. He departed for lower-league side Karlsruher SC in 2015 but failed to kick on there and has been out of the game for the past six years.
It’s unknown what Salahi is doing nowadays in his post-playing life.
READ: Where are they now? The six Bayern kids given debuts by Pep Guardiola
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
“He [Guardiola] is the most demanding person, not only coach, that I have ever met,” Hojbjerg recalled in an interview with The Times.
“He always told me about controlling the game with or without the ball. To make the player you play against react to you, not you to him.
“He used to say to me, ‘Pierre, the most important thing is, if they are close to you, go out and if they are open, you go in, but you need to read it.’ He would say: ‘You need to tell me after one minute, how do they play.’”
The Dane had joined Bayern’s youth set-up in 2012 after leaving boyhood club Brondby as a teenager. But he never quite established a regular spot and actually played more minutes for Erik ten Hag’s B Team than he ever did for Guardiola’s first team.
Both the midfielder and Guardiola left Bayern Munich for the Premier League the same summer and remain in English football seven years on. Hojbjerg has notched up over 100 appearances for both Southampton and Tottenham and is now fighting for his place in Ange Postecoglou’s favoured XI.
Julian Green
Germany has a long and rich history with American players, from the legendary Landon Donovan to Steve Cherundolo and John Brooks and Weston McKennie in more recent times.
Former USMNT international Green belongs in that lineage, although it’s only in recent years that the winger from Tampa, Florida has made his mark. He joined Greuther Furth in 2018 and has racked up well over 100 appearances for the club, the majority of them in the second tier.
But it was all the way back in 2010 that Green first arrived in Germany, having joined Bayern’s youth set-up as a 15-year-old. He was prolific for their B Team, with 25 goals and 12 assists in 51 matches, but only ever played four matches for the first team.
Subsequent stints at Hamburg and Stuttgart followed but it was only at Greuther Furth that he found a settled home.
Mitchell Weiser
The right-back, signed from Koln, was handed his debut by Heynckes before making a further 20 appearances under Guardiola – but ultimately Weiser was another prospect that did more in the youth ranks and B team than he did for Bayern’s seniors.
Weiser has been a solid Bundesliga pro for the past eight years, following his departure from Bayern in 2015. He’s represented Hertha Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen and is currently turning out for Werder Bremen, having helped get them promoted back in 2021-22.
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