Articles > Legends of CM: Where Are They Now

Down the years they'll have won you leagues, cups and maybe even kept you in a job. These players are the legends of Championship Manager, the players singled out by the games researchers all those years ago as the hottest properties in world football. The latest version of Championship Manager has also seen a few budding stars - with the likes of McGeady and Pavlis, to name just two who may one day be capable of joining this list. However, the researchers don't always get it right. Despite accurately predicting superstardom for the majority of the CM legends, a few of them didn't exactly flourish in real life.

So how exactly would you define a CM legend? A bargain buy who ends up being worth 30 million? The best player on one particular version of the game? Or, a player who can fit into any team and consistently puts in excellent performances.

With that in mind, I present to you my list of Championship Manager legends as well as looking at the ups and downs of their real life careers.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
CM 99/00 | CM 00/01 | CM 01/02 | CM 2008

A bargain buy in earlier versions of CM, Ibrahimovic has gone on to become one of the most decorated players in Swedish football. He is a strong striker who plays as a target man and is noted for his vision, passing and penchant for scoring stunning goals. Having started his career at hometown club Malmo, he went on to play for Dutch club Ajax, however, after falling out with the manager he was bought by Italian giants Juventus. After producing a series of stunning displays for the Turin club, he was named Swedish Footballer of the Year in 2005. In 2006 he engineered a move to Inter Milan as Juventus were relegated to Serie B for their part in the Italian match fixing scandal. It is here where Ibrahimovic has enjoyed his greatest success. With back to back Serie A titles in 2007 and 2008, he has a phenomenal goal scoring record better than one goal every two games, leading his most recent manager, Jose Mourinho to describe him as the best player in the world. He has also enjoyed a solid international career, appearing in two World Cups and two European Championships, as well as scoring 27 goals in just over fifty appearances for his country.

Juan Roman Riquelme
CM 99/00 | CM 00/01 | CM 01/02 | CM 2008

The skilful Argentine playmaker first came onto our radars in CM 99/00 and has been a quality player ever since. After starting his career at Boca Juniors, he was snapped up by Barcelona in 2002. However, the talented attacking midfielder never managed to reproduce the form that had lead the Catalonian club to sign him, being used mainly as a back up player and played out of position in the wide areas when given his chance. He was loaned out to fellow Spanish club Villarreal, where with the help of their fellow South American players he flourished, leading the club to the semi finals of the Champions League in the 2005/06 season. An impressive return of 36 goals in 106 appearances for the club lead to him being nominated for the 2005 Fifa World Player of the Year award. After a dispute with the manager he was loaned back to his boyhood club Boca. Now a seasoned pro, he was at the heart of the team that won the Copa Libertadores in 2007, scoring three goals in the two legged final. His promising career has been marred by off the field problems, having made over 50 appearances for the Argentine national side, he retired from international football in 2009 following criticism from new manager Diego Maradona.

Pablo Aimar
CM 99/00 | CM 00/01 | CM 01/02 | CM 2008

Similar to Riquelme, Aimar first came to our attention as a nineteen year old in CM 99/00. He was heralded as one of the bright young stars of Argentine football before joining Spanish club Valenica from River Plate in 2001. The skilful attacking midfield playmaker played a vital role in helping Valencia to their first La Liga title in over thirty years in his first season at the club. He would later go on to lift the UEFA Cup and claim a runners up medal in a Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich. Once described by Diego Maradona as his natural successor, Aimar transferred to Zaragoza in 2007. An unhappy spell at the La Romareda was compounded as the team were relegated on the final day of the La Liga season in Aimar's first year at the club. After considering his options, Aimar moved to Portuguese giants Benfica, where he is beginning to recapture his form despite injury problems. He has had an esteemed international career but perhaps hasn't truly fulfilled his potential, playing over 50 matches, including World Cup and Copa America campaigns.

Javier Saviola
CM 99/00 | CM 00/01 | CM 01/02 | CM 2008

Undoubtedly the star find of CM 99/00, beginning as a seventeen year old he quickly became a goal scoring machine. He made his debut for River Plate at the age of just sixteen, averaging a goal every other game in a prolific two seasons at the club. This earned him a 14 million pound move to Spanish giants Barcelona in 2003. However, he was unable to capture his earlier form for the club and was loaned out to Monaco and more notably Sevilla, where he won the UEFA Cup. He is one of the few players to breach the Barcelona/Real Madrid divide after moving to the Madrid club on a free transfer in 2007. Unable to establish himself in the first team he remains a back up player at the Bernabeu. He has had a good international career, winning an Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004. He also represented his country in the 2006 World Cup, scoring in the opening group game against the Ivory Coast, with Argentine eventually going out in the quarter finals. Although he has never managed to reach the dizzy heights that had been predicted in CM, he has had a reasonable career so far, with twelve international goals to his name.

Kim Kallstrom
CM 99/00 | CM 00/01 | CM 01/02 | CM 2008

Kallstrom has been a mainstay of the Championship Manager series, starting out as a sixteen year old in CM 99/00, he goes on to become a world class player in the next two incarnations of the game, and it has to be said he is still pretty handy in CM 2008. Kallstrom started at Hacken, but his fledgling career really began to take off when he won the Swedish title with Djurgardens in 2002. A move to Rennes followed, where his impressive record of 20 goals in 83 appearances leading French champions Lyon to acquire his service. He has since gone on to win two Ligue 1 titles and has also appeared for country in two European Championships and the 2006 World Cup. At the age of 26 and with 12 international goals to his name, Kallstrom still has the time and ability to make it to the very top in world football.

Kennedy Bakircioglu
CM 99/00 | CM 00/01 | CM 01/02 | CM 2008

Bakircioglu first came onto the radar of Championship Manager fans in CM 99/00 but really came into his own as a world class attacking midfielder in CM 00/01. Bakircioglu spent the majority of his early career at Swedish side Hammarby, a club where he is still revered today as a hero who helped them land their first ever Swedish League title in 2001. A miserable two year spell at Greek side Iraklis followed, as he struggled to hold down a first team place. However, this didn't stop Dutch side Twente from recognising his talent and they were rewarded for the faith they had shown in him as he scored 23 goals in 66 appearances. His impressive form alerted some of the divisions bigger clubs and in 2007 he signed for Dutch giants Ajax. Despite a debut goal, he has been unable to force his way into the first team on a regular basis and now appears to be surplus to requirements at the Amsterdam Arena. Whilst he hasn't turned out to be the world star as predicted by CM, he has made 15 appearances for the Swedish national team.

Stefan Selakovic
CM 99/00 | CM 00/01 | CM 01/02 | CM 2008

A quality forward player, Selakovic was part of a large Swedish contingent who would soon become some of the best players on the game. Whilst he appeared in CM 99/00, it was in CM 00/01 and 01/02 that he really came into his own as a deadly finisher who also got a lot of assists. He has struggled for goal scoring form in real life, having spent the majority of his career in his native Sweden with Halmstad and then later IFK Goteborg. He spent four years at Dutch side Heerenveen between 2001-05 but was unable to hold down a regular starting place in the team. Despite an unspectacular career he has made 12 international appearances for Sweden, bagging four goals in the process.

Andri Sigþórsson
CM 99/00 | CM 00/01 | CM 01/02

Sigþórsson was one of the star strikers in CM 99/00, a bargain buy from Icelandic club KR Reykjavik who quickly turned in to one of the best players on the game. However, in later versions of CM he became less prolific but will always be remembered fondly by fans of the series for his tremendous scoring prowess. He wasn't the same player in real life though, having spent the majority of his career at Reykjavik, he would later move on to Austrian team Salzburg and then finally Molde in Norway. His career was cruelly cut short in 2004 when a serious knee injury forced him to give up the game.

Julius Aghahowa
CM 01/02 | CM 2008

At the start of CM 01/02, this precocious young Nigerian forward was one of the hottest properties on the game, quickly leaving Ukranian side Shakhtar for the major European leagues. Although he carried a hefty 8 million price tag, it would prove to be money well spent. Aghahowa enjoyed the best spell of his career late into his six year stay at Shakhtar, scoring the goal that won the side the Ukrainian title in a crunch match against Dinamo Kiev. However, his career has taken a turn for the worse since, with a miserable one and a half year spell at Wigan finally coming to an end with a transfer to Turkish side Kayseripor. He is a seasoned Nigerian international, with 14 goals in 32 appearances, most notably the only goal in Nigeria's 2002 World Cup campaign, as well as being the countries top scorer in the 2002 Africa Nations.

Maxim Tsigalko
CM 01/02

A bit of a one hit wonder, Tsigalko rose to prominence in CM 01/02 as one of the hidden gems on the game. His awesome pace and clinical finishing ability made his one of the must buy players on the game. In real life he has drifted around the minor leagues of European football, with spells in his home country of Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan. He enjoyed his best spell at hometown club Dinamo Minsk, where he won the Belarusian Premier League and Belarusian Cup, also bagging 24 goals in 53 appearances. Having had three clubs in a year, he is currently playing for Belarusian side Savit Mahilyou and whilst it is unlikely he will achieve anything near his form in Championship Manager, he has made a solitary goal scoring appearance for his country in 2003.