Where are they now? Man City’s 11 wonderkids from FIFA 15 a decade later
FIFA 15 was released over a decade ago and we thought it would be a timely point to check out where the 11 Manchester City wonderkids from that game are today.
City were reigning Premier League champions when the game was released, with Manuel Pellegrini leading a talented and experienced squad into the 2014-15 season.
Using SoFIFA, we have found City’s 11 wonderkids from FIFA 15 and have checked out what they are each up to these days.
Matija Nastasic
Signed as a promising 19-year-old from Fiorentina back in 2012, Nastasic had his moments at the Etihad but never really nailed down a first-team spot and was offloaded to Schalke in January 2015.
The Serbian defender subsequently spent seven years in the Bundesliga, a brief stint back at Fiorentina, and is now turning out for La Liga club Leganes.
Seko Fofana
Fofana was a key member of the Ivory Coast side that overcame a dodgy start to win this year’s Africa Cup of Nations and is widely regarded as a fine midfielder.
Such quality often falls through the gaps at City – the competition is fierce – but learning that Fofana isn’t playing elsewhere in Europe was something of a surprise.
The 29-year-old midfielder swapped Lens for Al Nassr in 2023, but has been loaned out to Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq after struggling to make much of an impact in Saudi Arabia.
Jose Angel Pozo
Pozo was a key member of Andoni Iraola’s promotion-winning Rayo Vallecano side and has notched over 100 appearances for the Madrid-based outfit, though he moved to the periphery since their return to La Liga and was released over the summer.
The attacking midfielder actually made three Premier League appearances, including one start, for City in the unmemorable 2014-15 campaign. But he left for Almeria in 2015 in search of more regular game time.
Jordi Hiwula
Having come up through Didsbury’s Fletcher Moss Rangers, the amateur junior club that developed the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, Hiwula went to the blue half of Manchester and was prolific for their Under-21’s side with 20 goals in 31 games in 2012-13.
But the forward never progressed to the first team and was sold to Huddersfield in 2015, kicking off a nomadic seven years at clubs across the Football League, the high point being the twelve-goal season he enjoyed with Coventry City in 2018-19.
Hiwula is currently unattached following a brief spell at Morecambe last season.
Ian Lawlor
Arguably the least familiar name on this list, Lawlor was involved in the City squad for a handful of Champions League matches but never made an appearance for the club.
The goalkeeper has largely spent his career in the Football League with Doncaster Rovers, where he remains to this day, alongside brief spells with Oldham Atheltic, Scunthorpe United and Dundee.
Angus Gunn
Son of former Norwich ‘keeper Bryan Gunn, Angus developed his skills at the Canaries youth set-up before making the switch to City as a 15-year-old.
He was once talked up as Joe Hart’s potential long-term successor and rose up through the ranks of England’s youth teams, but he never made a first-team appearance for City.
After a season-long loan to Norwich, Gunn was sold to Southampton in 2018. He rejoined Norwich three years later and is now a regular between the sticks for Scotland. Like father, like son.
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Karim Rekik
Dutch defender Rekik joined City’s set-up in 2011 and made a small handful of appearances under Roberto Mancini amid loans away to Portsmouth, Blackburn and PSV.
He went on to earn four caps for the Netherlands and notched over 100 matches across Europe’s major leagues with Marseille, Hertha Berlin and Sevilla. In 2023, he joined Abu Dhabi club Al-Jazira.
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Rony Lopes
Listed as Marcos Lopes on FIFA 15, the Portuguese attacking midfielder was another part of that small army of youngsters that City recruited in the early 2010s.
Signed from Benfica originally, Lopes scored on his professional debut – off the bench in a 3-0 FA Cup victory over Watford in January 2013. But only four cup appearances followed before he left in search of first-team opportunities elsewhere.
An eclectic career has seen Lopes finish runner-up in four French cups with Lille and Monaco, win a Europa League with Sevilla and the Greek Super League with Olympiacos. Nowadays he plays for Turkish Super Lig club Alanyaspor.
Jason Denayer
Denayer never quite fulfilled his potential either at City or as the successor to Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld for Belgium, but he’s still had a solid career.
The defender won the Turkish Super Lig title with Galatasaray in 2017-18 and made over 100 appearances for Lyon, featuring for the Ligue 1 side as they memorably dumped out City en route to the 2019-20 Champions League semi-finals.
Still only 29, Denayer is playing in Saudi Arabia with Al Fateh.
Devante Cole
Son of Manchester United legend Andy Cole, Devante could have followed in his old man’s footsteps to train at Carrington but chose City instead. He’s since revealed that he regrets that decision.
“I had a choice, them or United. I picked City because I enjoyed it more and it was the best place for youngsters,” he told the Daily Mail.
“They’d brought through players like Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
‘Then they got their money and everything changed straight away. They started buying foreign boys for the academy and all the English lads got pushed to one side. As you got older, you realised you wouldn’t get a chance of progressing no matter what you did.”
Cole never played for City’s first team and left for Bradford City in 2015.
The vast majority of his career has been spent in the third tier, but his 18 goals for Barnsley in 2023-24 earned him a move to Championship side West Bromwich Albion this summer.
Albert Rusnak
Rusnak never got his opportunity at the Etihad but he’s had a respectable enough career since he left in 2014, winning a Dutch Cup and scoring a brace in the final for Groningen in his debut season there.
The Slovakian winger went on to win the CONCACAF Champions League with his current side Seattle Sounders. He’s doing just fine.