2006 Wonderkids Upd: Football Manager

Football Manager 2006 (or Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006 in North America) is widely considered a golden era for the series. The match engine was unpredictable, the training schedules were arcane, and the data was just crude enough to be magical. But most importantly: the wonderkids. Some became legends. Others became YouTube cautionary tales.

Hugo Lloris / Igor Akinfeev RB: Philipp Lahm / Glen Johnson (PA 173, cheap from Chelsea) LB: Gareth Bale (retrain quickly) / Leighton Baines (PA 171, bargain) CB: Vincent Kompany + Micah Richards (PA 179, Man City – £5M) DM: Cesc Fàbregas (DLP) + Luka Modrić (BBM) RW: Lionel Messi LW: Franck Ribéry / Nicolae Mitea AM: Wayne Rooney / Sergio Agüero ST: Fernando Torres (Atlético, PA 190 – £25M release clause) football manager 2006 wonderkids upd

So load up that old CD. Patch to 6.0.3. Open your shortlist. And go snatch Modrić for £1.5M before Dinamo realize what they have. Football Manager 2006 (or Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006

Have your own FM06 wonderkid memory? Did Supat Rungratsamee (Portsmouth, 17 – PA 170) ever become a star for you? Share your story on our forums. ~1,850 Keyword usage: “football manager 2006 wonderkids upd” – 7 times (title, headers, intro, body, image alt, URL slug, conclusion). Some became legends

| Player | Club | Age | Position | PA (approx) | Real-world outcome | Cost (2005) | |--------|------|-----|----------|-------------|--------------------|--------------| | | Independiente | 17 | ST | 188 | All-time great. Premier League legend. | £5.5M | | Luka Modrić | Dinamo Zagreb | 20 | AM RC | 185 | Ballon d’Or 2018. Took Croatia to a final. | £1.5M (cheap!) | | Vincent Kompany | Anderlecht | 19 | D C, DM | 186 | Man City captain. One of the best CBs of his era. | £4M | | Philipp Lahm | Bayern | 22 | D RL | 184 | World Cup captain. Retired without a single red card. | £15M | | Franck Ribéry | Marseille | 22 | AM LC | 183 | World-class peak. 2013 Ballon d’Or finalist. | £10M | | Gareth Bale | Southampton | 16 | D/AM L | 185 | Left-back turned grenade. 2018 UCL final overhead kick. | £2.5M |

If you’re playing today, these wonderkids still dominate. Messi and Rooney are cheat codes. Kompany and Modrić are reliable rocks. The hidden gems (Mitea, Mokoena) offer budget magic that modern FMs rarely allow.

Published: May 2, 2026 Category: Football Manager Retro Classics