Where are they now? Bayern Munich’s 4 wonderkids from Football Manager 2015
Bayern Munich were under the management of Pep Guardiola when Football Manager 2015 was released and possessed an immensely talented squad – but what happened to their wonderkids from that year’s game?
The Bundesliga heavyweights would retain their title in 2014-15, but suffered disappointment in the Champions League with a semi-final exit to Barcelona.
Using FM Scout, we have found Bayern’s four wonderkids from this edition of Football Manager and have checked out what they are each up to these days.
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 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, with the former notching up over 100 appearances for both Southampton and Tottenham.
Hojbjerg is now playing on loan at Marseille and has one goal in 11 Ligue 1 appearances.
Gianluca Gaudino
Former Germany youth international Gaudino never quite broke through to the elite level after making a handful of appearances under Pep Guardiola.
The midfielder made his debut for the Bavarian club aged 17 years 09 months 11 days in a 4-1 DFB Pokal victory over lower-league minnows Preussen Munster in August 2014.
Gaudino made eight Bundesliga appearances that season before being loaned out to St. Gallen and eventually sold to Chievo. He now plays in the German third tier with Alemannia Aachen.
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Sinan Kurt
After scoring 16 goals in 24 games for Borussia Monchengladbach’s Under-19 team in 2013-14, Kurt joined Bayern’s reserves and was handed his senior debut by Guardiola.
But his time at the club was reportedly blighted by attitude problems and the winger signed for Hertha Berlin in January 2016.
He’s now turning out for Turkish third-tier side Karaman FK.
Julian Green
Green was regarded as one of Bayern’s brightest prospects and made his first-team debut against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League in November 2013.
The USA international then went to the 2014 World Cup and became the youngest American to ever score at the finals by finding the back of the net against Belgium.
After a disastrous loan spell at Hamburg, where he barely played, he joined Stuttgart in 2017 and currently plies his trade for Greuther Furth – he helped them win promotion after three years in the Bundesliga II, but couldn’t stop their relegation after finishing bottom in 2021-22.
“For a soccer player it’s one of the best feelings to wear your nation’s jersey and it’s a big goal for me to get back there,” Green told ProSoccerTalk in 2019.
“Right now I’m focusing on Furth and I want to make good games here and then we’ll see what will happen in the future.”
He’s still there, now into his eighth season and back playing in the German second tier, but hasn’t received a USMNT cap since 2018.