What happened to forgotten Man Utd trialist who was 'tougher to defend' than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

A cult hero from the popular 2001/02 edition of Championship Manager never quite lived up to his potential, despite being named by former Barcelona defender Jordi Alba as his toughest-ever opponent.

Kennedy Bakircioglu burst onto the professional scene at the age of 15, when he made his senior debut for Swedish second-tier side Assyriska in 1996.

Two years later and, after notching nine goals in 25 games for Assyriska, the teenager was handed a trial at Manchester United during their soon-to-be famous treble-winning campaign. “It was a dream come true,” Bakircioglu said of his trial.

“I’d train with their first team and play with the second string at a time when their squad was packed with big names like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, the Neville brothers, Dwight Yorke and Teddy Sheringham. United were always a team that I admired.”

Bakircioglu failed to earn a contract at Old Trafford and soon returned to his native Sweden, where he joined Allsvenskan outfit Hammarby IF.

He would go on to make a significant impact at the club, with Hammarby lifting their first ever Swedish league title in 2001 thanks, in part, to their talented attacking midfielder who recorded some prolific stats that season.

Bakircioglu then signed for Greek side Iraklis in 2003, a move that failed to capture the imagination of those who played with him on the 2001/02 edition of Championship Manager.

As mentioned above, the Swede is probably best known for his ability on the popular computer game. In fact, Bakircioglu has previously admitted that he doesn't mind all the attention from fans of the much-loved series.

“Fantastic, isn’t it? People have been talking about it for ten years; friends, teammates, complete strangers," Bakircioglu said in his biography.

"It happened from time to time that a fan would come up to me after a game and tell me how good I had become at his version of the game. And people would say that I refused to come to their club. So I must have been picky. Then I started playing it myself.”

He added: "I decided to step into Sir Alex Ferguson’s shoes and become a manager at Manchester United."

Bakircioglu is a cult hero from the Championship Manager series. Image credit: Sports Interactive

Bakircioglu went on to play for FC Twente, Ajax and Spanish side Racing Santander, where he memorably came up against a young Jordi Alba, who was playing for Valencia when the pacey Sweden international was selected to feature on the wing in 2010.

Several years later and Alba took many by surprise when he named Bakircioglu as his toughest-ever opponent.

"I'm always asked this and you don't even know who he is," the full-back told Spanish publication Marca. “It was during the season when I started playing as a full-back. I remember that it was a sunny day at the Mestalla… and Racing de Santander came.

“His name was Kennedy [Bakircioglu], he had little hair… he was flying. He made me… it was four in the afternoon and I had a terrible time.”

A compilation of Alba's battle with Bakircioglu has since been uploaded to YouTube, with the clip picking up over 5,000 views at the time of writing.

Bakircioglu's battle with Alba has been uploaded to YouTube.

After leaving Racing Santander in 2012, the midfielder made a poetic return to Hammarby, where he spent a further six years before hanging up his boots in 2018.